"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 movement led by African Americans in the mid-20th century to secure equal rights and opportunities for themselves and other marginalized groups.
Slavery and the Abolition Movement: The history of slavery in the United States, the role of the abolition movement in ending slavery, and the aftermath of emancipation.
Reconstruction and Jim Crow: The period after the Civil War, when African Americans gained some political power and civil rights, and the subsequent era of segregation and discrimination.
The NAACP: The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, a civil rights organization founded in 1909 that played a key role in the Civil Rights Movement.
Brown v. Board of Education: The landmark Supreme Court case in 1954 that declared segregation in public schools to be unconstitutional.
Montgomery Bus Boycott: The 1955 boycott of the Montgomery, Alabama, bus system by African Americans to protest segregation on public transportation.
Civil Rights Act of 1964: The federal law that outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin in employment, education, and public accommodations.
Voting Rights Act of 1965: The federal law that eliminated barriers to voting for African Americans, including literacy tests and poll taxes.
Selma March: The 1965 protest march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, to demand voting rights for African Americans.
Black Power: The philosophy and movement that emerged in the late 1960s and emphasized black self-determination, pride, and empowerment.
Affirmative Action: The policy of taking proactive steps to ensure equal opportunity for groups that have been historically disadvantaged, such as African Americans, in areas such as education and employment.
African-American Civil Rights Movement: This movement focused on ending the segregation and discrimination faced by African Americans in the United States and promote their equal rights and opportunities.
Women's Rights Movement: This movement focused on advocating for greater equality and access to opportunities for women, including the right to vote, equal pay, and reproductive rights.
LGBTQ+ Rights Movement: This movement aimed to secure greater rights and acceptance for people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer.
Disability Rights Movement: This movement calls for accessibility, equal opportunities and protections for people with physical, sensory or cognitive impairments.
Native American Rights Movement: This movement focused on addressing historical and ongoing land theft, cultural erasure, and political disenfranchisement of Native American tribes in the United States.
Asian-American Civil Rights Movement: This movement sought to address the exclusion, racism and discrimination faced by Asian-Americans in the United States.
Hispanic-American Civil Rights Movement: This movement focused on bringing attention to the civil rights abuses experienced by Hispanic Americans and their fight for equal rights.
Jewish-American Civil Rights Movement: This movement focused on fighting anti-Semitism and promoting equal rights for Jewish Americans.
Immigrant Rights Movement: This movement advocates for the rights of immigrants and refugees, focusing on issues such as fair treatment, access to education and healthcare, and a path to citizenship.
Religious Civil Rights Movement: This movement seeks to protect and promote the freedom of religion, which includes the ability to practice one's religion without fear or interference from others.
"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."