Do you think that the tactics and strategies that civil rights activists used in the 1960s would apply to today's racial and ethnic conflicts? Why or why not?

Massive acts of civil disobedience defined the revolution, and their lessons may be applied to today's racial and ethnic issues. Between 1955 and 1968, civil disobedience and nonviolent resistance put protesters and authorities in a bind. When situations involving racial injustices developed, federal, state, and local governments, businesses, and communities had to act quickly. Notable nonviolent actions include the Montgomery bus boycott in Alabama, the Greensboro sit-ins, and the March on Washington.

The struggle for racial equality and civil rights in the United States is a testament to millions of African Americans in the 1960s. Martin Luther King Jr. Day is observed on January 20, 2014. The movement's success may be ascribed to nonviolent protests for human rights without violence. The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. backed this method to confront armed revolt. King's nonviolent movement influenced Mahatma Gandhi.

Millions of blacks utilized civil disobedience, peaceful marches, and economic boycotts in what activists called America's second civil war, led by Martin Luther King Jr. Too soon to know whether these demonstrations will help alleviate America's chronic socioeconomic inequities. Lessons and comparisons from the 1960s civil rights fight "Responding to brutal repression with 'eye for an eye' may be politically right, but not smart."