In his moving “Letter from Birmingham City Jail”, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote: “We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.” Was he right? Why/why not? Based on the what you have seen of the Civil Rights Movement, the Gay Liberation Movement, the Feminist Movement, and the anti-ERA campaign, what do you think are the three most important elements of a successful social movement, and why? How can we apply lessons from the successes and failures of these movements to contemporary problems, so that all Americans can enjoy the promise of “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness”?

To some degree, Martin Luther King's statement is true. The civil rights movement, women's movement, and gay rights movement show that the power structure is not changed on its own; instead, people must demand rights and use the power of protest to win rights. For example, before the civil rights movement, many parts of the US lived under the rules of segregation, and, even in areas that were not officially segregated, black people did not enjoy the same access to employment, education, housing, and other areas. It took the civil rights movement, and actions such as sit-ins, freedom rides, and bus boycotts, to force society and the government to end de facto segregation and provide blacks with equal voting and other rights. The women's and gay rights movements also had to use these strategies to force society to recognize their rights.
A successful social movement must unite people from that demographic (for example, women in the women's rights movement), but it must also win over allies in the power structure and government. To do so, a social movement must show that the society will advance by granting their wishes and rights. For example, the civil rights movement showed people that by disenfranchising blacks, the American society was failing in its mission to promote democracy. All of these movements were able to convince others that by restricting their group's rights, they were hurting the American economy and society. The movements' use of non-violence was also effective in winning over allies (as non-violent means of protest made the opposition look bad), and we can use the lessons of these movements to improve society.