Peaceful Resistance Essay

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Peaceful Resistance: It Can Change Our Nation The society has been complacent about the violence that’s engulfing the cities and towns, but it can no longer be said that “most people in this country don’t have to think about their personal safety every day” (Canada viii). Violence claims the nation hour by hour, day by day and year after year. America is in a crisis, and people everywhere must act. Middle and upper-class communities are no longer exempt from violence. Geoffrey Canada’s Fist Stick Knife Gun: A Personal History of Violence brings the reality of violence living in many of American’s poorest communities and how the violence has grown beyond the poor and minority. More and more, people are solving their conflicts with violence, which leads to retaliation, which then leads to more suffering and even death. For those who seek to resolve violent conflicts which lead to suffering and death we must act and respond peacefully. A peaceful resistance is a viable solution to increase the unity among all people, bring about meaningful change and end the suffering in our nation’s communities. “While violence has been a factor in our slums and ghettos for decades, never had it been so deadly” (Canada 89). The form of violence has progressed from using fists, sticks, and knives to guns. As guns became easily accessible, fists, sticks, and knives became a thing of the past. Guns are now the new method of choice for solving conflicts and for protection. People are discouraged from fist-fights and minor weapons when adversaries are likely to have guns now (Felson 35). “According to Children’s Defense Fund estimates, ‘There are more than 270 million privately owned firearms in our country – the equivalent of nine firearms for every 10 men, women, and children’ and tens of thousands of them have been killed by guns (Canada 67). The poor and minority were thought to

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