It was an impossible task to watch what was happening in the American capitol building yesterday and not be moved.  Those of us who lived through the Vietnam era recall similar images in Washington, Chicago, and other locations, but this wasn't that.Forceful demonstrations are common in these last few years, but yesterday's event was something more sinister, prompted as it was by a defeated president.  Millions of opinions of the rightness or wrongness of this action will dominate the airwaves and digital domain for days and months to come.For decades, people have spoken of and practiced “civil” protest.  Like many reading these words, I have taken part in such actions, from anti-poverty marches, to racial equality demonstrations, and gathering for the addressing of indigenous reparations.  Everyone was civil, though, on two occasions, violence was narrowly averted.But what set these demonstrations apart from what we saw in Washington was not the civility of the actions but the reason for them.  Put plainly: civic protest has mostly been motivated by seeking attention for the people or movements that have been left out of civilization's progress – racial inequality, climate change, those without financial resources, women without equality, or politics without adequate representation.What happened at the Capitol yesterday was exactly the opposite: people with the advantages that civilization bestowed refusing to give them up: dominance, wealth, power, racial supremacy, territory, inequality, and yes, privilege.  This is hardly civil protestation because it isn't inclusive action.Let's talk about “civility” for a moment.  In recent years, it has been portrayed by its detractors as something wimpy, too soft for the injustices of the day.  But that is not what its origin suggests.  The terms “civil” or “polite” come from the word  “awareness” and denote a growing understanding, not a limiting one.  Some etymologists claim that civility refers to the action of polishing – rounding off the sharper corners of something so that things can fit together better.The vocabulary of early democracy in both Europe and America, and Canada later on, included this term “civility” as a political asset – the ability to create something common where normal divisions would keep things apart.  The demonstrations yesterday were all about putting the harsh corners and virulent angles at the forefront, in a blatant and troubling attempt to turn history back on itself.What we witnessed yesterday was not conservatism, as many claimed.  Nor was it republicanism – something the dictionary defines as, “respect for all the people and their elected representatives rather than a monarch.”  True, the Republican Party, or portions of it, have lost their way, deplorably so, but America was largely built by a Republican Party that believed in inclusion.   Just as a reminder, Abraham Lincoln was the party's first president, and it was the Republican Party, following World War Two, that formed alliances with the civil rights movement long before the Democratic Party moved in that direction under John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson.To be sure, most of those demonstrating yesterday would define themselves as Republican or Conservative, but in doing so they betrayed their heritage and the importance of those concepts to the American experiment in democracy.  What they represented was a loose coalition of people who were just angry at losing what they thought was their birthright after having migrated to a Republican president who agreed with and radicalized them.It was the black Civil Rights movement in America, mirroring the peaceful influence of Mahatma Gandhi, that put the word “civil” back into protests.  It succeeded because it scorned violence, outlasted victimization, followed a creed of social justice that existed long before America was born, and ultimately prevailed in what has become one of history's great lessons in courage and principle.  The movement served as the guidebook for a new level of protest where that “awareness,” referred to earlier, was elevated – and in the American south, of all places.  That was what civility actually was: tough, tolerant, principled, purposeful, and inclusive.  It was some citizens “polishing” the rough edges off of society.From his cell in a Birmingham jail, Martin Luther King Jr. wrote to all those civil and nonviolent protesters in words that will endure as long as the need for change is required.  He recognized them for their “sublime courage,” their willingness to suffer for the dream that America could be one, for their amazing discipline in the midst of such great provocation.  “One day the South will honour its real heroes,” he concluded.That wasn't the group brashly wandering over the Capitol yesterday.  History will remember them for their refusal to honour the Constitution and their fellow human beings, regardless of their support for the president.  New heroes are in the making and will soon be in the lead.  We have yet to see if America has the will for that “new birth of freedom” that the first Republican president spoke of.Glen Pearson was a career professional firefighter and is a former Member of Parliament from southwestern Ontario. He and his wife adopted three children from South Sudan and reside in London, Ontario. He has been the co-director of the London Food Bank for 32 years. He writes regularly for the London Free Press and also shares his views on a blog entitled “The Parallel Parliament“. Follow him on twitter @GlenPearson.