Protests a long time ago

Once upon a time some people in this country held protests. They weren't too much different from ones we have today ... except for the REAL protests. I'll give you examples from my past.
When I was still in school (I graduated in 1962), all starry eyed and sure to change the world I became involved in a few protests. I marched, for example, with the NAACP picketing of Fairyland Park, an amusement park in Kansas City, MO, and the Swope Park swimming pool, that was a large swimming pool complex. There were three pools: a small kiddie pool; a three board diving pool (two low and one "high;" and a city block sized pool of even depth of 4 feet for general fooling around. In the summer this pool complex was always jammed with hundreds of kids and their parents (a few). It was mostly for teenagers and was completely (trust me on this) white kids.
So, the decision was to try to integrate this unjust segregation. Oh, there weren't signs saying "Whites only," or "No blacks." It was just culturally understood. (I have learned, now that I am "old" that Fairyland Park was open one day a year to blacks and that there was an area called "Watermelon Hill" where blacks could picnic.) So we marched to protest injustice.
We were prepared with little signs, pins, and instructions not to damage anything, remain silent, and keep walking in a long back and forth in front of the main entrance. We didn't interfere with anybody, and no one brought sticks, knives, guns, baseball bats, etc. to the protest. After all, we weren't going to riot or anything like that! We were peacefully protesting. If others came and stood around watching us, or even talking or yelling at us, we were to ignore them and stick to protesting. Simple! And there were even a few policemen there to watch what was going on. I only remember a few, perhaps a dozen or so.
I remember being scared as we got on the buses, and I was pretty much surrounded by black people, but they didn't seem to mind my being there.
We walked, we protested, we got yelled at a little, and so it went. A few times like this and ... what do you know? The city and the people who ran Fairyland Park came to agree to allow anyone to use the park and the pool! We had succeeded without violence or getting our heads split open. I was pretty happy about that. (Actually, it took about two years.)
That summer, a neighbor of mine and I went to the Swope Park Pool. This large pool was always packed. But not then. For one thing, I think we were the only white persons there! And there were only a few small groups of blacks in the pool! The place was almost deserted. The same thing was happening at Fairyland, and the owners were struggling to keep the place open. By 1977 it was closed and gone. (You can check out what was lost by reading about Fairyland Park on Wikipedia.)
Some things aren't really meant to survive cultural change, although I suspect playground parks can if they start out right. Look at the Disney offerings, the Seven Flags, and local area parks like Hershey Park, etc. They seem to still be doing well ... and are integrated without making a fuss about it. (I'm not sure the gay community will agree from what I have read.) But our quiet protests (and some not quiet ones in the deep South) did work and result in a changing society. I would hope we are over the rough beginnings and into a new society.
But no, there are still "protests" where more than one side (sometimes a whole flock of them) are coming together, armed and spoiling for a fight. I don't think that's protest ... it's rioting. Can't our government units just admit this and work to stop rioting?
I want my peaceful protests back. Please?