| The American Civil Rights
Movement refers to the reform movements in the United States aimed at
abolishing racial discrimination against African Americans and restoring
suffrage in Southern states. This article covers the phase of the movement
between 1954 and 1968, particularly in the South. By 1966, the emergence of
the Black Power Movement, which lasted roughly from 1966 to 1975, enlarged
the aims of the Civil Rights Movement to include racial dignity, economic
and political self-sufficiency, and freedom from White domination.
Many of those who were most active in the Civil Rights
Movement, with organizations such as SNCC, CORE and SCLC, prefer the term
"Southern Freedom Movement" because the struggle was about far more than
just civil rights under law; it was also about fundamental issues of
freedom, respect, dignity, and economic and social equality.
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