Just decades after the passage of jim crow laws that reinforced separate but equal treatment, civil rights advocates worked to end racial segregation. Led a boycott that ended separate seating in montgomery, the city considered the cradle of the confederacy. Supreme court ruled racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional in 1954, but alabama avoided implementing the decision until 1963. In that year, four black children were killed by a bomb that destroyed part of their birmingham church.

Widespread outrage over the incident helped create the climate that led to the passage of the civil rights act of 1964. civil rights are defined as the nonpolitical rights of a citizen especially those guaranteed to u.s. Citizens by the 13th and 14th amendments to the constitution and by acts of congress merriam webster online. And the 14th amendment insured african americans of their legal citizenship and equal protection under the law national archives experience. movement is defined in part as a series of organized activities working toward an objective also: an organized effort to promote or attain an end merriam webster online.

The civil rights movement was an era dedicated to activism for equal rights and treatment of african americans in the united states. During this period, people rallied for social, legal, political and cultural changes to prohibit discrimination and end segregation. Many important events involving discrimination against african americans proceeded the era known as the civil rights movement. The importation and enslavement of africans is perhaps the most notorious example of inhumanity in united states history.

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The abolishment of slavery did not change the perceptions that allowed discrimination to continue. In1863, the emancipation proclamation issued by president lincoln officially ended slavery. However, the proclamation could not instantly transform attitudes of many citizens or the legacy of a country that had considered african americans as less than human. In 1865, the emancipation proclamation was confirmed by the 13 th amendment of the constitution which outlawed slavery and involuntary servitude. Ferguson established a policy of separate but equal accommodations for african americans. Many accept that the civil rights movement occurred between 1955 and 1965, but the exact time span is debated encarta.

There are even some who argue that the civil rights movement has not ended and that discrimination and efforts to oppose it continue. During the years of 1955 to 1965, many legislative and judicial events emphasized the legality of fair treatment of african americans. Despite the support of the federal government, these new laws and rulings faced opposition. Many individuals and local governments refused to end discrimination and continued practices of segregation.

In 1954, the supreme court ruled that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. The board of education of topeka, presented by thurgood marshall, overturned plessy v. In 1957, the governor of arkansas attempted to prevent nine black students from entering central high school in little rock, arkansas. Supreme court ruled that segregation was illegal in interstate bus and train stations. A group of citizens called freedom riders tested this ruling by traveling throughout the southern portion of the country on buses.

In1962, president kennedy sent federal troops to the university of mississippi so that rioters would not prevent james meredith, the school's first black student, from attending. The civil rights act of 1964 forbade discrimination in public places and by any program that receives federal government funding. The civil rights act of 1964 also established the equal employment opportunity commission eeoc , a u.s. Government agency that takes employment discrimination complaints to court, in an effort to enforce laws that prohibit job discrimination. The voting rights act of 1965 suspended the use of voter qualification tests, creating a sharp increase in black voter registration. These tests had been used to disqualify african americans from their voting rights. The civil rights movement was important to the history of the united states and the world.

It established that discrimination was unjust and would no longer be tolerated in the country, while setting an example for oppressed people everywhere. The movement changed where african americans could take a drink from a fountain or attend college. The efforts to help a specific group united many citizens to achieve a common goal.

People, regardless of race, fought together for the just treatment of african americans. Ties to the philanthropic sector the civil rights movement greatly contributed to and benefited from the nonprofit sector and philanthropy. Many nonprofit organizations were created during this era specifically to assist in the orchestration of events. These organizations, staffed mostly by volunteers, acted as facilitators for change. Philanthropy assisted many legal and political endeavors that were necessary to promote change in the government. Without philanthropic aid, many of the nonprofit organizations created during the civil rights movement would not have been able to carry out their missions.