this post was submitted on 18 Jun 2023
535 points (98.0% liked)

Reddit

13435 readers
4 users here now

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] SterlingVapor 3 points 2 years ago

There's also something to be said about using the system to fight the system. We're taught civil rights were won through peaceful protest and getting attention, but we don't live in that fairy tale world

Those people who had sit ins didn't do it for attention, they did it because once they were in the system for breaking a law, they could challenge the law. They didn't do it once or twice, they tied up the court systems

The black Panthers also played a significant role, but the only analog here is anonymous, and the panthers were more of a deterrent to using police to do punitive raids

The US government didn't want to end segregation and it wasn't like the public at large liked the idea, they used the third path - you use just position yourself so either they're forced to stop brushing you off and in doing so give you legitimacy through escalation or negotiation, or they just give in and you achieve your goal