Transforming America with the Civil Rights Movement The civil rights movement transformed American society in to a color conscience society and started the anti-free speech political correct movement that we are seeing today. The civil rights movement gave African Americans the right to be treated as regular citizens but it was the urban riots of the mid-1960s and the voiced black rage that changed the tone of the civil rights movement. The civil rights movement also sparked others to create organizations to stand up for their beliefs.
The civil rights movement fought to achieve full citizenship rights and to achieve racial equality to black Americans. The civil rights movement was a challenge to segregation, the system of laws and customs separating blacks and whites that whites used to control blacks after slavery was abolished in the 1860s. During the civil rights movement, individuals and civil rights organizations challenged segregation and discrimination with a variety of activities, including protest marches, boycotts, and refusal to abide by segregation laws. Many believe that the movement began with the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955 and ended with the Voting Rights Act of 1965, but many also believe that it has not ended today.