In early 20th century, there were many social protest movements which included violent actions. In the era, African Americans were racially discriminated, and the disadvantaged who were not well educated and poor were suffering with their working condition. As a result, the groups required that their employers provided the better working condition and the better wages. However, the employers usually ignored their demands, and people fought for their rights. In 1891, the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers was one of the most powerful unions in the U.S, and they showed their collective power to achieve their goals (Madeleine Adamson, 1984). Even though the union members tried to fight and use violence against Andrew Carnegie who was their employer, they failed to achieve their goal and their demands were not accepted. Moreover, their working condition was worse than before such as low wage and longer working hours. (Madeleine Adamson, 1984)
Mohandas Gandhi said, “Non-violence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind. It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of man.” Gandhi emphasized that nonviolence social protests had more power to persuade people and any violence actions should not legitimate. Recently, using violence in social protest is one of the most controversial issues in the world. Some people argue that using violence of social protests is appropriate way to achieve their goals, but many violence protesters cannot achieve their goals. Unfortunately, most previous social protestors which used violence failed to achieve their goals, and violence social protests cause physical injuries and property damages instead of achieving their goals. Therefore, I believe that social protests which use violence should not be legitimate because the nonviolence social protest is more effective way to persuade other people with a variety of nonviolence methods: making documentary films,...