"The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement in the country."
The social and political campaign to end racial segregation and discrimination against African Americans in the United States.
Segregation: A system of racial separation that enforced legal and social discrimination against African Americans in the United States.
Brown v. Board of Education: A landmark Supreme Court case that declared segregation in public schools to be unconstitutional.
Birmingham Campaign: A nonviolent protest campaign led by Martin Luther King Jr. in Birmingham, Alabama, that resulted in a significant victory for the Civil Rights Movement.
March on Washington: A massive demonstration in Washington, D.C., in 1963 that called for civil rights legislation and equality for African Americans.
Voting Rights Act of 1965: A piece of legislation that aimed to overcome legal barriers preventing African Americans from exercising their right to vote.
Civil Rights Act of 1964: A landmark law that prohibited discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin in public accommodations, education, and employment.
Freedom Rides: A series of bus journeys in 1961 designed to challenge segregation on interstate buses and bus terminals.
Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott: A protest sparked by Rosa Parks' refusal to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama, bus, which led to a 381-day boycott of the city's buses.
Jim Crow laws: State and local laws in the United States that enforced racial segregation and discrimination.
Black Power movement: A political and social movement in the 1960s and 1970s that emphasized African American empowerment and self-determination.
Southern Christian Leadership Conference: A civil rights organization founded in 1957 by Martin Luther King Jr. and other leaders.
Malcolm X: An African American activist and leader who advocated for black separatism and racial pride.
Little Rock Nine: A group of African American students who integrated Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas in 1957.
Sit-ins: Nonviolent protests in which activists occupied segregated public spaces to advocate for integration and equal rights.
Freedom Summer: A campaign in 1964 that aimed to register as many African American voters as possible in Mississippi.
Medgar Evers: An African American civil rights activist and leader who was assassinated in 1963.
NAACP: The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, a civil rights organization founded in 1909.
Black Panthers: A militant African American revolutionary organization founded in 1966.
Ku Klux Klan: A white supremacist organization founded in the late 1800s that used violence and intimidation to promote their ideology.
Northern civil rights movement: A movement in the northern United States that aimed to address racial discrimination and segregation in urban areas.
African-American Civil Rights Movement: A movement aiming to end racial discrimination against African Americans and promote their rights, from segregation in the United States in the mid-1950s to late 1960s.
Women's Rights Movement: A movement aiming for gender equality in social, political, and economic aspects of life, started in the late 19th century.
LGBTQ+ Rights Movement: A movement aimed at addressing sexual orientation and gender identity in societal issues and gender rights, started in the late 1960s.
Disability Rights Movement: A movement promoting equality, improving accessibility of facilities, services, and individuals' rights with disabilities.
Environmental Rights Movement: A movement aimed at promoting environmental sustainability, protecting the natural resources, and ensuring a healthy ecosystem.
Indigenous Rights Movement: A movement aiming to protect the rights of Indigenous peoples, their cultures, languages, and lands, from the colonial era to present-day.
Workers' Rights Movement: A movement aiming to promote better working conditions, fair wages, and job security.
Immigrant Rights Movement: A movement promoting human rights for immigrants, regardless of their legal status, and aiming to provide equal opportunities for all.
Civil Rights for People with HIV/AIDS: A movement promoting equal rights, prevention of discrimination, and access to health care and medication.
Human Rights Movement: A movement that aims to protect and promote human rights, including the right to freedom, security, and protection against discrimination.
"The movement had its origins in the Reconstruction era during the late 19th century and had its modern roots in the 1940s."
"The movement made its largest legislative gains in the 1960s after years of direct actions and grassroots protests."
"African Americans were subjected to discrimination and sustained violence by white supremacists in the South."
"At the culmination of a legal strategy pursued by African Americans, in 1954 the Supreme Court struck down many of the laws that had allowed racial segregation and discrimination to be legal in the United States as unconstitutional."
"The Warren Court made a series of landmark rulings against racist discrimination, including the separate but equal doctrine, such as Brown v. Board of Education (1954), Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. United States (1964), and Loving v. Virginia (1967) which banned segregation in public schools and public accommodations."
"The Civil Rights Act of 1964 explicitly banned all discrimination based on race, including racial segregation in schools, businesses, and in public accommodations."
"The Voting Rights Act of 1965 restored and protected voting rights by authorizing federal oversight of registration and elections in areas with historic under-representation of minority voters."
"The Fair Housing Act of 1968 banned discrimination in the sale or rental of housing."
"The emergence of the Black Power movement, which lasted from 1965 to 1975, challenged Black leaders of the movement for its cooperative attitude and its adherence to legalism and nonviolence."
"Its leaders demanded not only legal equality, but also economic self-sufficiency for the community."
"Martin Luther King Jr. was the most visible leader of the movement."
"From 1964 through 1970, a wave of riots and protests in black communities dampened support from the white middle class, but increased support from private foundations."
"African Americans who had seen little material improvement since the civil rights movement's peak in the mid-1960s, and still faced discrimination in jobs, housing, education and politics."
"The movement was characterized by nonviolent mass protests and civil disobedience following highly publicized events such as the lynching of Emmett Till. These included boycotts such as the Montgomery bus boycott, 'sit-ins' in Greensboro and Nashville, a series of protests during the Birmingham campaign, and a march from Selma to Montgomery."
"After the American Civil War and the subsequent abolition of slavery in the 1860s, the Reconstruction Amendments to the United States Constitution granted emancipation and constitutional rights of citizenship to all African Americans, most of whom had recently been enslaved."
"Various efforts were made by African Americans to secure their legal and civil rights, such as the civil rights movement (1865–1896) and the civil rights movement (1896–1954)."
"These included boycotts such as the Montgomery bus boycott..."
"Loving v. Virginia (1967) which banned segregation in public schools and public accommodations, and struck down all state laws banning interracial marriage."
"However, some scholars note that the movement was too diverse to be credited to any particular person, organization, or strategy."