The civil rights movement in the United States. After World War II, three major factors encouraged the beginning of a new movement for civil rights. First, many African Americans had served with honor in the war. Black leaders pointed to the records of these veterans to show the injustice of racial discrimination against patriots. Second, African Americans in the urban North had made economic gains, increased their education, and registered to vote. Third, the NAACP had attracted many new members and received increased financial support from whites and blacks. It also included a new group of bright young lawyers.

Rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court during the 1940's and 1950's brought major victories for African Americans. In several decisions between 1948 and 1951, the court ruled that separate higher education facilities for blacks must be equal to those for whites. Largely because of federal court rulings, laws permitting racial discrimination in housing and recreation also began to be struck down. Many of these rulings came in cases brought by the NAACP. An increasing number of blacks began to move into all-white areas of Northern cities. Many whites then moved out of the cities to suburbs.

Excerpt from the "African Americans" article, The World Book Encyclopedia © 1999