The use of boycotts, sit-ins, marches, and other forms of nonviolent protest in the 1950s and 1960s to demand equal treatment under the law and an end to racial prejudice.
Historically, the term "Civil Rights Movement" has referred to efforts toward achieving true equality for African-Americans in all facets of society, but today the term "civil rights movement " is also used to describe the advancement of equality for all people regardless of race, sex, age, disability, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, or other protected characteristic.
movement in the United States beginning in the 1960s and led primarily by Blacks in an effort to establish the civil rights of individual Black citizens
An organized effort that promoted equality, political rights, and fair treatment for all Americans, no matter what their skin color was.
Started in the 50's the civil rights movement gathered steam in the early 60's with marches, passive resistance and speeches. Foremost among the leaders were Martin Luther King Jr., Medgar Evers, Jesse Jackson, and Malcolm X. These protests and the non-violent means used were inspiration for the student anti-war protests that were to follow a few years later.
Efforts to achieve political and social freedom and equality for African Americans in the United States were strengthened in 1957 when Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., helped to found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to co-ordinate the work of civil rights groups. King urged peaceful means of protest - inspired by Gandhi - including sit-ins, boycotts, marches, and freedom rides. Not all these civil rights efforts were peaceful, but desegregation did gradually occur, with some assistance from federal legislation. "Let freedom ring," from a hymn written by Rev. Samuel F. Smith in 1832, became Martin Luther King's call to battle. Return to Theme
Historically, the civil rights movement was a concentrated period of time around the world of approximately one generation (1954-1980) wherein there was much worldwide civil unrest and popular rebellion. The process of moving toward equality under the law was long and tenuous in many countries, and most of these movements did not achieve or fully achieve their objectives. In their later years, these movements took a sharp turn to the radical left in many cases.