Pictured above: (DMA News)
Black Lives Matter
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The Tweet pictured to the left accounts some of the opposers to the Black Lives Matter movement. Stated here, they describe the "people who speak out against the police" and how they aren't justified in doing so. In the snippet of this individual's opinion, the mindset of many is expressed – a vast number use the hashtag #AntiBlackLivesMatter on Twitter. In this respect, they are condemning the whole movement's use of protesting, many saying that the protesting is unjustified; this is a common theme used by opponents to discredit opposers throughout America's history. For example, the British claimed that the colonists' grievances
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The audio clip above is a podcast from National Public Radio created in September of 2017. It outlines a Louisiana court case in which an anonymous police officer sued the Black Lives Matter movement for being injured in one of their protests a few months before. He "got hit in the mouth. [he] think[s] it was a piece of concrete. That knocked out three of his teeth, broke a few others and left him with serious jaw damage." The judge ruled that Black Lives Matter is a social movement and not an institution, so they cannot be sued. The podcast then goes on to interview the police officer and DeRay McKesson, a civil rights activist– it shows what they think about the movement. (Martin, Michel)
A Movement Trumping all Others
“Hey, hey, ho, ho, Donald Trump has got to go.” - Trump Tower Protesters
Perhaps our most explosive movement right now is that against our own president. Since his nomination, many have spoken up against and for him, including an August 2017 protest at Trump Tower. The demonstrators recited the "Hey, Ho" chant above to show their disapproval of the way Mr. Trump has acted in office. Such a strong opposition to our president hasn't been seen in many years, bringing up the notion of civil disobedience relating to the sacred executive branch and Americans blatantly disrespecting the leader of our country (Eversley, Melanie). See Also:
To the right is a Tweet from the account "The Trump Train" who frequently expresses its support of Mr. Trump and its displeasure with protesters to his presidency. They fight back at the various protesters in 2017 by starting the new year with this condemning Tweet, and address their desired audience very directly: "Hey liberals." They believe that Trump protesters are invalid in their believe and are going to be ineffective in changing the executive office. A common response to protests in the past few years has been immediately Tweeting one's support or criticism of a cause. (The Trump Train)
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Violence in Virginia
Above is a picture of a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville Virginia. It took place on August 12th of 2017. The rally was met with counter protesters. This is another example of how civil disobedience is met with more civil disobedience. It also shows how the acts of civil disobedience can change but sometimes the topic beneath it all doesn't. Unfortunately, the "civil" part of civil disobedience disappeared as many violent exchanges between the two groups occurred. The violence eventually became deadly when a car drove through the group of counter protesters, killing one.