Civil Rights Movement

The Civil Rights Movement was a time of racial upheaval from 1955-1965. Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, giving basic civil rights for all Americans, regardless of race, after a decade of nonviolent protests and marches. Some of the major events of this time were the bus sit-ins and boycotts, Little Rock protest, the March on Washington, and thousands of walks and protest by African Americans.

It took many years for action to be taken against segregation and prejudice (some would never go away). The American Civil Rights Movement refers to the reform movements in the US aimed at abolishing racial discrimination against African Americans and restoring suffrage in Southern states. The movement was particularly concentrated in the South, where tensions were the worst dating back to the beginnings of slavery. The movement created great heroes like Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr., but also created the leftist Black Power Movement which pushed for racial dignity, economic and political self sufficiency, and freedom from White domination.