Oppression means cruel or unjust treatment that is prolonged. The difference between the violent resistance and non-violent resistance is that in violent resistance you use the threat of physical pain to the oppressors and non-violent resistance is when you use peaceful means where no one is harmed and the oppressors are shamed into changing. Agency means the ability to determine the outcome of one’s own life. Oppressed people should use non-violent resistance to gain agency because during the Oscar Grant protest they were threatened for their life if they were peaceful, in the MLK speech he states that non-violent resistance gives tangible and better results, and in Malala’s speech she supports being peaceful and forgiving to everybody.
First of all, oppressed people should use non-violent resistance to gain agency because during the Oscar Grant protest police threatened protesters for their life if they did not protest peacefully. The document that I will be providing you is about the Murder of Oscar Grant at the Fruitvale Bart Station in Oakland, California who was shot in the back when he was already in a position of surrendering. This document is an excerpt from an article titled Centuries of rage: The murder of Oscar Grant III” on the website http://sfbayview.com/2015/02/centuries-of-rage-the-murder-of-oscar-grant-iii/ and was written by Malaika Kambon on February 25, 2015. The information from this document is not trustworthy because they don’t have any evidence of them witnessing the event and that they have a reason to give biased information due to the fact this protest for some eyes, see it as a racial problem which would lead into different opinions and biased information. A quote from this document states, “…Mehserle’s partner, Tony Pirone, held Grant down with both hands and a knee on his head and neck.Both Pirone and BART Officer Marysol Domenici assaulted, hurled racial epithets and threatened to taser and/or kill Oscar Grant’s five friends who were on the BART platform with him at the time of his murder.” The evidence that I have provided shows that oppressed people should use non-violent resistance to gain agency because if Oscar Grant’s five friends that was there to witness his murder were to retaliate violent it would result in them getting injured or even worse death. This supports my claim in using non-violent resistance to gain agency because it is a much safer way in protesting than losing you life or getting injured in the process.
In addition, oppressed people should use non-violent resistance to gain agency because being peaceful and forgiving to everybody will give you better results than harming others using violent resistance. The document that I will be using is about a how a girl name Malala Yousafzai was shot in the head by Taliban but it won’t stop her because she feels even stronger after getting shot and she wants education for every child by being peaceful and loving everyone, even the Taliban who shot her. The document is an excerpt of a speech given by 16 year old named Malala Yousafzai to the United Nations General Assembly on July 12, 2013. The information of this article is reliable because Malala Yousafzai said this herself to the United Nations General Assembly and has no reason to be bias. A quote from this speech states, “This is the philosophy of nonviolence that I have learned from Gandhi, Bacha Khan and Mother Teresa. And this is the forgiveness that I have learned from my father and from my mother. This is what my soul is telling me: be peaceful and love everyone.” This demonstrates that oppressed people should use non-violent resistance to gain agency because Malala Yousafzai is following the philosophy of nonviolence which the 3 role models that she mentioned were very successful in doing. This is why oppressed people should use nonviolent resistance to gain agency because you have a much better chance of gaining agency instead of fighting back which will make the oppressors less likely to hear your opinion and what you have to say.
Lastly, oppressed people should use non-violent resistance to gain agency because Dr. Martin Luther King stated himself that using nonviolent resistance will give you tangible results than using violent resistance which does not give consistent results like using non-violent resistance can do. The document that I will use to support my claim is about Dr. Martin Luther King doing a speech and talking about his opinion on a violent resistance that was occuring at the time and that he is committed in using non-violent resistance because it’s the best weapon in getting best results. This document is an excerpt from a speech titled “The Other America” delivered by Dr. Martin Luther King at Grosse Pointe High School on March 14th, 1968. The information from this document is reliable because Dr. Martin Luther King is a primary source, has no reason to be bias, and he has stated this himself. The quote from this document states, “I am still committed to militant, powerful, massive, non-violence as the most potent weapon in grappling with the problem from a direct action point of view. I’m absolutely convinced that a riot merely intensifies the fears of the white community while relieving the guilt. And I feel that we must always work with an effective, powerful weapon and method that brings about tangible results.” This implies that oppressed people should use non-violent resistance to gain agency because using non-violent resistance is better in giving your point across to the oppressors rather than making them scared. The results from using non-violent resistance to gain agency is better than using violent resistance because you gain more consistent results than violent resistance instead of scaring the oppressors to death.