Notion: Places and forms of power - When the power is misused, how do people rebel against it?

Places and forms of power

« Places » could be important buildings or institutions that represent a certain form of power, for example Buckingham Palace – a symbol of the British monarchy, the White House – a symbol of the American presidency. A place can also be a country or a state –  for example the USA is a state which is powerful enough to influence events throughout the world (superpower) and China is a major economic power in today’s world.« Power » is the ability to control others, events, or resources; the ability to make things happen despite obstacles, resistance, or opposition. This of course leads to conflict between those who have power and those who don’t. So the question is: When power is misused, how do people rebel against it? To answer it, I’m first going to speak about the civil rights movement in the US, and in a second point, I will speak about the Apartheid System in South Africa.

        Firstly, the civil rights movement which last from 1954 to 1968 (15 years) was a social movement in the United States runed by african-americans. Their goal was to end discrimination and racial segregation against them and to secure legal recognition and federal protection of the citizenship rights enumerated in the Constitution and federal law. In fact, they had rights (ex: the right to vote) officially, but when they wanted to use of them, they were strongly repressed by the white authorities (literacy test…). Here, the rebellion was made pacifically, without violence thanks to leaders such as Martin Luther King, the main hero of this movement. This event can illustrate the notion of Power because it shows the power of determinism through the long years of fight, and also the power of religion, because MLK was a preacher, and motivated people with God.

Now, let’s come to the second point

Apartheid was a political and social system in South Africa while it was under white minority rule. This was in use in the 20th century, from 1948 to 1994. Segregation had been used for centuries but the new policy started in 1948 was stricter and more systematic. In the system, the people of South Africa were divided by their race and the races were forced to live apart from each other. There were laws that kept up the racial separation. The system of apartheid in South Africa was banned in 1994. The last president under apartheid was Frederik Willem de Klerk. After this, Nelson Mandela became the first black president. Both were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts. The political power is shown here by the long years that the white South Africans exerted their power on other people. We can also feel the power of Love. If Nelson Mandela didn’t loved his country, he would have not spent 27years of his life in Jail for it.

To conclude, we can say that when power is misused, some people can suffer from this situation, they are oppressed. The only way to stop these abuses is to protest pacifically or not. Most of the time, the non-violent protests are more commendable than the violent ones. That’s why Nelson Mandela or Martin Luther King are very famous.

Aphroditi GIANNIKAKI Tle ES

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