Zinn Chapter 17 (English 2nd Book Report

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Their philosophy was that immoral laws could be changed through the constitutional process and that even non-violent and civil disobedience was a form of lawlessness and that it is not acceptable to violate any laws even to achieve justice.

5.) According to Zinn, what were the achievements of the Civil Rights era and what has yet to be achieved?

Zinn acknowledges that the United States made tremendous progress in racism. However, he also warns that there are still many remaining areas of inequality between white and black society that have lasted much longer. In almost every measure of the quality of life, black people have fewer advantages than white people and they still face prejudice and discrimination. Zinn suggests that there is still a substantial amount of racism in the country that exists on more subtle levels that, in some ways makes it harder to address effectively.

1.) What is your gut reaction to this reading?

I agree with Martin Luther King Jr. completely: it was disgraceful for anybody to suggest that civil rights protestors wait until the laws caught up to the times.
The authorities who wrote and enforced those laws were some of the racists.

2.) Explain the philosophies of love and of human nature that fuel non-violent activists in their practice of non-injury toward another, even if he/she is getting attacked

The philosophies of love and human nature that fuel non-violent activities must do so from a higher level than the unjust actions they oppose. It is not immoral to violate man-made laws if those laws are unjust, but it is not moral to commit violence even in defense if one can be rescued without causing them harm.

3.) Explain the concept of moral and immoral laws

Martin Luther King Jr. explained the concept of moral and immoral laws. According to him, manmade laws can be as immoral and as corrupt as the people and governments that write them. In Germany, the government wrote laws that required citizens to report the locations where Jews were hiding so that they could be exterminated. When human laws are immoral, man has every right….....

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