8.10 The African American Civil Rights Movement

Legal Challenges to Segregation

The NAACP led legal efforts culminating in Brown v. Board of Education (1954), which declared school segregation unconstitutional, overturning Plessy v. Ferguson's "separate but equal." Massive resistance followed in the South, including refusal to integrate schools, requiring federal intervention like at Little Rock Central High (1957).

Grassroots Activism and Nonviolent Protest

Activists used nonviolent civil disobedience: the Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955-56) launched Martin Luther King Jr.; sit-ins, Freedom Rides, and the March on Washington (1963) built momentum. These efforts pressured Congress to pass the Civil Rights Act (1964) and Voting Rights Act (1965), ending legal segregation and protecting Black voting rights.

Diverging Strategies and Continued Struggle

By the mid-1960s, frustration with slow progress and persistent racism sparked more militant approaches. Malcolm X and the Black Power movement, including the Black Panthers, emphasized self-determination and racial pride over integration. Urban uprisings and King's assassination (1968) revealed that legal victories hadn't erased economic inequality and de facto segregation.

Key terms

Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

Supreme Court case declaring public school segregation unconstitutional, overturning Plessy v. Ferguson's 'separate but equal' doctrine.

Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955-56)

Year-long boycott sparked by Rosa Parks' arrest that ended bus segregation and launched Martin Luther King Jr. as a leader.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

Landmark law banning discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin in public places and employment.

Voting Rights Act of 1965

Law banning discriminatory voting practices like literacy tests and authorizing federal oversight of elections to protect Black voters.

Black Power movement

Late-1960s movement emphasizing racial pride, self-determination, and sometimes separatism, led by figures like Malcolm X and groups like the Black Panthers.

Try an AP-style question

This speech was delivered at…

1. the March on Washington
2. the Birmingham campaign
3. the Montgomery Bus Boycott
4. the Selma to Montgomery march