When one thinks of the Civil Rights Movement, one initially thinks of non-violent demonstrations against segregation and prejudice forty years ago. This "revolution" to desegregate society took hundreds of lives; thousands of people were brutally beaten; churches and homes were firebombed. Thousands marched in protest; hundreds of others took part in boycotts against restaurants and other public establishments. Nightly on television news those removed from strife saw the National Guard protecting black students trying to integrate Southern schools. Viewers watched police dogs attack children, and Southern policemen use high - powered fire hoses and clubs to disperse non-violent demonstrators who were exercising their right to assemble. The path of the movement in America is marked with important milestones. From the boycott of the Montgomery bus system to the civil rights march on Washington, the visions are forever implanted in the mind of most Americans. The struggle of African Americans to claim basic freedoms and to end legal segregation provoked fierce white resistance and challenged the moral sensibilities of a "free" nation. The Civil Rights Movement had a positive effect on Ame

Branch, Taylor. Parting waters: America in the King Years. New York:

Along with the Voting Rights Act, the Civil Rights Movement was successful in ending discrimination based on race, religion and national origin. The Civil Rights Act protected all African Americans against arbitrary or discriminatory treatment. "For blacks, this represented a dramatic improvement in those states where law and public policy mandated racially separate institutions and highly discriminatory treatment"(Sowell37). The issue changed from no longer being allowed to check into a hotel, but whether or not one could afford it.

Harvey, Samuel, Jr. "New Challenges in Minority Education". Interview.1993

The first major success of the Civil Rights Movement was desegregation of public schools, which occurred with the 1954 Supreme Court ruling in the case Brown vs. Board of Education. Chief Justice Warren delivered the court's opinion stating that "segregated schools are not equal and cannot be made equal and hence they are deprived of the equal protection of the laws" (Brown 1). The decision of the case was a great stride taken by America in favor of civil liberties (1). The case broke down the wall of segregation in schools and changed public education forever.

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