In the early 1960s, African Americans used sit-ins, freedom rides, and protest marches to fight segregation. Their efforts led the federal government to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964, ending discrimination in public facilities and employment, and the 24th Amendment and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, guaranteeing voting rights of black Americans.

Joblessness, inferior schools, police brutality, de facto segregation in the North, and a lack of political representation led to racial disturbances in the late 1960s and to the rise of a black power movement that demanded jobs, educational improvements, and greater respect for black culture.