• @SterlingVapor
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    32 years ago

    There’s also something to be said about using the system to fight the system. We’re taught civil rights were won through peaceful protest and getting attention, but we don’t live in that fairy tale world

    Those people who had sit ins didn’t do it for attention, they did it because once they were in the system for breaking a law, they could challenge the law. They didn’t do it once or twice, they tied up the court systems

    The black Panthers also played a significant role, but the only analog here is anonymous, and the panthers were more of a deterrent to using police to do punitive raids

    The US government didn’t want to end segregation and it wasn’t like the public at large liked the idea, they used the third path - you use just position yourself so either they’re forced to stop brushing you off and in doing so give you legitimacy through escalation or negotiation, or they just give in and you achieve your goal