Nice response. However, I really wonder what would have happened if the nation did not protest the taxes by throwing all that good english tea into the harbor. Was that what really turned it around between England and the colonies? I think it was the military uprising pure and simple and the exorbitant cost of trying to fight a war from across the ocean.

If I were nearby during the "party", I would have been walking past going, "Tsk. tsk, and framing the Indians to boot!"

Had the civil rights movement been less aggressive, even militant in some aspects, perhaps there would not exist the huge resentment and backlash in parts of the south and in pockets where racism still thrives and fueling the "violent negro" stereotype. Perhaps the civil rights bill may not have passed as quickly, but perhaps that may have actually been better for African Americans and their subsequent treatment in the long haul. Yes, in some spots racism will die out with the passing of generations, in other areas it will simply be bred out, but for forty years the bitterness has left a divide that has not yet been bridged and has caused many to live as perpetual "second class" citizens.

Don't mistake my position. I abhor racism. I have burned into my mind the 1921 image of a burned body of a youth accused of "rape of a white girl" and the lookers on grinning in a weird sadistic delight.

But back to my point. protests naturally have positive and negative aspects - but often the protesters themselves are useful imbalanced tools of the rational folks. Clearly the head of these protest movements stay behind the scenes and let the protester minions achieve their ends.

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