Is Protest Effective in Producing Change

Recently, Reverend Terry Jones, of Gainesville, threatened to burn the Quran to demonstrate his feelings of hatred toward Muslims. Although, Jones never went through with his plans, he created an uproar among people throughout the nation and became the main subject of discussion among people. Jones’ plan to burn the Quran is also a good example of protesting. Protests have been used throughout history to create change, But how do we define protesting and has it been effective in producing change. Read on and find out more.
According to Wikipedia, a protest is defined as something that expresses a strong reaction to situations and events. A protest can be violent or nonviolent. Protesting dates back to the 18th century in American with events such as the Boston Tea Party that lead to the American Revolution. This enabled the colonies to get out from under control of the British Empire and create their own government. Another major protest in American history was the succession from the United States of some Southern states who wanted to keep slavery. Later, came the Civil Rights Movement and equal rights for women. This involved nonviolent protests which helped to produce change. Some examples of the Civil Rights protests were the Montgomery bus boycott and sit-ins. Martin Luther King was one of the major players in this movement. Other protests were against the Viet Nam conflict. Protests have been an active part of the Right To Life groups who want to get Roe VS Wade reversed and outlaw abortions. Recent protests involved antiwar demonstrations such as the March on Washington in 2007. Unfortunately, this protest could not stop the war in Iraq.
Historically, protests have generally been successful in producing change. Threatened protests can also produce a lot of discussion and debate as in the case of Terry Jones. Now it’s your turn to weigh in, have you ever been involved in a protest. If you have, I want to hear about it. It does not matter if it’s just a small on campus one. I look forward to hearing about your protest stories.