Chapter Overview

The struggle for racial equality spanning the years between the end of World War II and the 1970s manifested itself through labor activism, challenges to established legislation through the courts, nonviolent action, and defense of black autonomy. People engaged in the pursuit of civil rights were very courageous, as they often suffered loss of jobs, arrests, and violence when confronting the more severe Jim Crow institutions of America. Persistence, steadfastness in the face of fear, evolving media techniques, and the influences of key players such as the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy brought the plight of African Americans to the world stage.

Learning Objectives

After reading this chapter you should understand the following:

• The idea behind nonviolent direct action as a means to change social realities
• The background of the formal American civil rights movement as typified in 1960s Montgomery, Alabama
• Historical milestones of the American civil rights movement
• The crucial influence of women in this era of change
• The differences between North and South in the U.S. as applied to the civil rights movement
• The civil rights movement as defined through sequential rulings by the American courts