two rights make a wrong

Millions of immigrants have been landing on the United States soil seeking freedom. They came from every country on the face of the earth, some fleeing torture of their local regime, and some dreaming of better life quality than the one they experienced in their homeland. They wanted their voices to be heard, and have consideration given to how they felt about the surrounding environment. Life goes on, and they blend into the American life, enjoying what it has to offer. Being Americans, they started to practice their constitutionally deserved freedoms and rights, also asking for more, as the human being always thrives to step into the higher level. The United States bill of rights assures Americans on their rights and contains, as in the United States’ constitution, the first amendment:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Obviously, the reason this amendment was put into the constitution is because of frequent violations of basic human rights, by governmental authorities, through out the history of civilizations. The problem remains of how these amendments have been interpreted, and in which situations to apply them, since people have been more innovative than the constitution writers. Their innovation in the ways they practice their freedoms always leads to law alterations, which are rarely in time. Therefore, vague understandings of their rights, Americans often do not reach their maximum ability in confronting authorities, neither violently nor peacefully. Moreover, police officers in America have codes of practice and strict guidelines regarding the use of force, these guidelines are not always followed or even completely understood.

Through the service learning project we, students of ENG 96, were involved in this semester, I volunteered at the Independent Media Center (IMC). The IMC provides media coverage of local events, which are ignored or poorly covered by the corporate media. It functions as a non-commercial, non-corporate, anti-capitalist all volunteer organization. The IMC has been participating in covering protests in the San Francisco bay area as part of its effort to educate the bay area residents of how they can let their voices be heard, and have better understanding of their rights. During the recent wave of anti-war protests, the IMC played a major role in informing bay area residents of, then, upcoming events. It provided them with literature, brochures, and flyers and supplied the internet-connected with footage, video and audio of those events. It also created a live web radio for those who want to speak out. As a volunteer at the IMC I did some research concerning my writing group research topic, which is police brutality. Also, my volunteering at the IMC involved gathering information from other web sites, pass around informative leaflets, participate in protests and publish news and information on the IMC’s web site.
With so much involvement, I was able to detect the reasons behind the often failure of protestor to achieve their goals and to have their demands met. Many protestors tend to physically fight police officers, whom are trying to restrain order. Others adopted the strategy of civil disobedience, “Increasingly, though, some organizers are focusing on non-violent civil disobedience” John Ritter titled his article in USA TODAY newspaper regarding the post Iraq war protests. “In the nation's capital, for example, organizers are trying to coordinate a mass bike ride and march with symbolic stops at financial and military facilities. Those actions are legal. Even so, Washington groups hint of surprises as well,” continues Ritter. The surprises Ritter referred to are of unexpected development of bikers’ actions if war was to actually start. Protestors will not always follow orders, especially if they were irritated by the presence of police forces. Protestors frequently become enraged by police riot gear, and tend to show their mightiness, and then the confrontation transforms to be, as if it was, the sole reason that brought them out in the first place.
Protests’ organization has been critical to how protestors appear in the eyes of the media and the public. For one, the coherent of their signs and the effectiveness of the wording plays an important role in delivering their ideas. When holding a sign with misspelled words or a sign that too much abbreviating made it hard to understand there are undermining their power, also they are giving up potential support from watchers, who just happen to be standing.
The phrase fight for your rights does not necessary mean to fight physically. In his book the Gandhi Reader, Homer Jack reports that in 1936 Gandhi was visited by a well-known African American minister and his wife. They asked him whether nonviolent resistance was "a form of direct action." Gandhi replied vigorously, "It is not one form; it is the only form... It is the greatest and the activist force in the world... It is a force which is more positive than electricity and more powerful than even ether.”
Unfortunately nonviolent protesting is not always the case. It happens that sometimes protestors are enraged, not by issues they are protesting, but by the way they are being treated by law enforcement personnel. On many occasions suspects and protesters had been attacked, by police officers, when peacefully gathered for a demonstration in public space. Amnesty international reported the Amnesty International recently reported that in September 2000, an unarmed man by the name of Prince Jones was shot by a police officer who mistook him for a black suspect in an earlier incident. George County, MD, where the incident happened, settled the case with Jones’ family for $200,000, reported the Washington post``