The Value–Oriented Civil Rights Movement and Passive Resistance: An Expression of Civility in the Pursuit of Social Justice

A core set of sociological values considered by most Americans as essential to the American way of life are discussed within the context of denial and opportunity for a large minority. These core values guarantee equal opportunity and justice for all Americans as expressed in, and supported by, the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights. Yet, historically, Black Americans experienced systematic injustices. A discussion of the Civil Rights Movement focuses on the organized, disciplined, nonviolent action employed as the means of calling attention to the incivility perpetrated upon Blacks while arousing the consciousness of the Nation. The author examines the nonviolent, passive–resistance movement as an expression of civility in pursuit of justice as accorded by the Constitution and in the expressed value system of the American society. We hold these truths to be self–evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness,—That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just power from the consent of the governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. (The Declaration of Independence in Congress, July 4, 1776)