"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."
A study of the evolution of civil rights laws in the United States, including landmark court cases and legislation.
The Constitution and its Amendments: Understanding the legal framework of civil rights law in the United States, including the Bill of Rights and Reconstruction Amendments.
Legal Battles: Reviewing the landmark legal cases and decisions that have shaped civil rights law in America, such as Brown v. Board of Education and Roe v. Wade.
The Civil Rights Movement: Examining the grassroots efforts of activists and leaders who fought for equal rights and opportunities for marginalized groups during the mid-20th century.
Women's Rights: Analyzing the legal challenges and political movements that led to the recognition of women's rights, including gender discrimination and reproductive freedom.
Affirmative Action: Understanding the history and significance of affirmative action policies, including their impact on education, employment, and government contracting.
LGBTQ+ Rights: Following the legal and social progress made by the LGBTQ+ community, focusing on topics such as marriage equality, anti-discrimination laws, and hate crime protections.
Disability Rights: Examining the legal recognition and protection of disability rights, including access to public spaces, education, and employment.
Voting Rights: Understanding the struggles and triumphs of voting rights activists, including the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and current efforts to combat voter suppression.
Intersectionality: Recognizing the ways in which civil rights issues often intersect, including race, gender, sexuality, disability, and socioeconomic status.
Contemporary Issues: Staying informed about current civil rights issues, including police brutality, mass incarceration, and immigration reform.
Reconstruction Era Civil Rights laws: Laws that were enacted during the period of reconstruction in the United States in the aftermath of the American Civil War with the aim of ensuring equality of rights to African Americans.
Jim Crow Era Civil Rights laws: Laws that were enacted in many states of the United States to establish racial segregation and maintain white supremacy after the Reconstruction Era.
Civil Rights Movement: The period from around the 1950s to the 1970s when people of color and their allies protested against discriminatory laws and practices in America. This led to the passage of many laws protecting minority rights.
Anti-discrimination laws: Laws passed at various times in America to address discrimination against minorities in areas such as education, employment, housing, and voting rights.
International Human Rights Treaties: International treaties and conventions signed by many nations affirming the rights of minority groups, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Contemporary civil rights issues: Ongoing disputes and struggles over issues such as police brutality, immigration, and the rights of LGBTQ+ people to marriage and to work without 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."