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Civil rights
EVERY PERSON IS ENTITLED to freedoms and rights,
protected by the laws of the United States. However, for
decades African Americans were denied their civil rights. As
slaves, they had none. After the Civil War, they were granted
some important rights. But the law stood in the way of
equality, allowing states to segregate (separate by race) whites
and African Americans by offering “separate but equal” public
facilities. During the 1950s and 1960s, African-American
leaders such as Martin Luther King, Jr., used marches and
demonstrations, nonviolent resistance, the courts, and the
press to help end racist laws and win
equality for all. These efforts were
known as the civil rights movement.SEPARATE BUT NOT EQUAL
From the 1880s to the 1960s, many states enforced
segregation through “Jim Crow” laws. Businesses
and institutions were ordered to provide separate
facilities for whites and African Americans,
including everything from schools and buses to
drinking fountains. The facilities were certainly
separate, but they were rarely equal.THE NAACP
Founded in 1909, the
National Association for
the Advancement of
Colored People (NAACP)
led the fight against
segregation, relying on
peaceful but powerful
ways of protest such as
petitions, boycotts,
and lawsuits.
National guardsmen
protect civil rights
activists on a Freedom
Ride through Alabama.MARCHING FOR FREEDOM
For five days in 1965, civil rights activists
marched the 54 miles of Alabama
highway from Selma to Montgomery.
Led by Martin Luther King, Jr., the
march focused national attention on
discrimination. The marchers were met
with protests and violence, but their efforts
put pressure on Congress. The
Voting Rights Act, protecting
African-American
voter registration, was
signed in August.ROSA PARKS
Rosa Parks (1913-2005)
took a bus ride into history
on December 1, 1955, when
she refused to give up her
seat for a white man in
Montgomery, Alabama.
Parks became a symbol
of the civil rights
movement and founded
an organization to
help young African
Americans find careers.FREEDOM RIDES
In 1957, the courts gave African
Americans the right to sit wherever
they liked on a bus, but the law was
rarely enforced. In May 1961, civil
rights activists staged Freedom
Rides— interracial bus journeys from
Washington, D.C., through the
South—to persuade them
to uphold the law.Martin Luther
King, Jr.1896 Supreme Court upholds
“separate but equal” laws.
1942 Congress of Racial Equality
(CORE) founded.
1954 Brown v. Board of Education rules
segregation unconstitutional.1957 First Civil Rights Act protects voting
rights of African Americans.
1963 Martin Luther King, Jr., leads march
on Washington D.C.
1965 Voting Rights Act outlaws
discrimination against voters.THE STRUGGLE FOR EQUALITYAbolitionist movement
African americans
Constitution
Human rights
King, Jr., martin lutherFind out more