political movement which seeks equal rights for all citizens (often referring to the movement in the 1950's and 1960's in the United States that fought for equal rights for African Americans)
Historically, various popular movements struggling for
civil rights,
human rights and
social justice since the Second World War have become known as the civil rights movement, most famously the
American civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, which struggled for equal rights for
African-Americans. The process of moving toward
equality under the
law was long and tenuous in many countries, and most of these movements did not achieve or fully achieve their objectives. In their later years, some of the movements fractured and certain factions took a sharp turn to the
radical left, and then lost popularity. The struggles of these movements took place during a postwar period of increasing worldwide
civil unrest and popular rebellion, and they coincided with the struggle against
colonialism in colonies in Africa and Asia, which resulted in
decolonization, and with political opposition by emerging student movements.
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