The modern civil rights movement grew out of a long history of social protest. In the South, any protest risked violent retaliation. Even so, between 1900 and 1950, community leaders in many Southern cities protested segregation.
Funny story actually. Many of these were copied from Gandhi's Civil disobedience sense of logic. To punish people that are doing nothing wrong but just protesting is just ethically and morally wrong. Like shooting at someone clearly not a threat, and is not armed.
Here to help! If you were a farmer or a trader, your spot on the hierarchy was rather low. If you were a rich landlord your spot was rather high and you had a lot of money. Hope this helped!!