Civil Disobedience | Teen Ink

Civil Disobedience

March 5, 2017
By zuzswang SILVER, Riverside, California
zuzswang SILVER, Riverside, California
6 articles 0 photos 3 comments

Favorite Quote:
Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart- William Shakespeare


Throughout the history of organized civilization, progress has always been made after an act or acts of civil disobedience. The play, Antigone, is a quintessential example of civil disobedience in a literary work. Actual instances of civil disobedience in society are Deaf President Now and the  Stonewall Rebellion. Deaf President Now was a movement made by the students, alumni and staff of Gallaudet University to shut down the university. They were protesting the Board of Trustees’ decision to elect Elizabeth A. Zinser, a hearing woman as president of Gallaudet. The Stonewall Rebellion was a series of violent riots at the Stonewall Inn (a local gay bar in Greenwich Village) made by the LGBT community in opposition to police forces for raiding and harassing members of the community on a normal basis. Deaf President Now is a superior example of civil disobedience and Antigone because of its pacifistic nature.


Deaf President Now exceeds The Stonewall Rebellion as an example of the civil disobedience  in Antigone because the people of Gallaudet didn’t use violence to achieve their goal. “Students protested and shut down the Gallaudet campus and dorms…”(Deaf Civil Rights Movement1). This quotation shows the gracious way in which protesters made their point. The non-violent method students and their supporters used to show that they were serious and prepared to fight for what was right.  “Gallaudet students began to plan the marches to the Mayflower Hotel and the U.S. Capitol…”(Deaf Civil Rights Movements 1). This citation explains the plans made by the students of Gallaudet. These plans, these acts of civil disobedience, are similar with Antigone's act of civil disobedience to Creon and his law. Both Deaf President Now and Antigone protest unjust acts with peaceful, albeit, strong protests.


Some people may say the Stonewall Rebellion was a better example of civil disobedience as a real life example of Antigone compared to Deaf President Now, but that is incorrect. People may say the Stonewall Rebellion was a more fitting act of civil disobedience because the rioters were against the police officers which are a part of the law while Deaf President Now was against Gallaudet's Board of Trustees. However because the Stonewall Rebellion was a violent movement, it is instantly incomparable to Antigone. Antigone’s death was so tragic because it was undeserved; Antigone committed the crime of giving her brother a proper burial and was sentenced to rot for disobeying the unjust law. Antigone didn’t hurt anyone while the protesters of the Stonewall Rebellion were “...throwing objects at the policemen, shouting ‘gay power’”(Stonewall Riots: The Beginning of the LGBT Movement1). The people at the Stonewall Rebellion were justified in their actions like the people at Deaf President Now, but because of their violent actions, Deaf President Now is a superior comparison to Antigone,



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