I didn’t intend to express it as American exceptionalism, but rather to pick examples that were relevant to my own context. I’m quite certain there are examples all over the world where illegal actions have become celebrated. The last point you make is much closer to my intent: when the law is immoral, it is sometimes moral to challenge it by breaking it. And I intentionally added examples which are not as celebrated because, well, they should be.

It’s odd to frame actions by some in the US to right wrongs in our country as “issues that the US created for itself”. I mean yes, as a country slavery is a horrible stain on our history. But the abolitionists who fought it since before the US even existed and continue to this day are not implicated in that. And that’s my point: rejection of immoral laws and power structures is valid, and equating legality with morality is sometimes and even often wrong.