Civil Rights Movement

noun

variants or less commonly American Civil Rights Movement

: a movement (see movement sense 2b) for racial equality in the U.S. that came to prominence in the 1950s and 1960s

Examples of Civil Rights Movement in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The museum, recently designated as a National Historic Landmark by the National Park Service, was the site of historical sit-ins by the Greensboro Four, an effort during the Civil Rights Movement that sparked similar sit-ins around North Carolina. —Evan Moore, Charlotte Observer, 3 Feb. 2025

During the early development of television, and long before the Civil Rights Movement began in the 1950s, Black entertainers had opportunities to host TV variety shows. —Anita M. Samuels, New York Daily News, 1 Feb. 2025

Those events are so central to Alabama's history from the Civil Rights Movement that the state's tourism department is promoting the commemorations on its website. —Russell Contreras, Axios, 30 Jan. 2025

Maer covered the Civil Rights Movement in Atlanta in the 1970s, and interviewed the Rev. Martin Luther King Sr. days after his wife, Alberta Williams King, was shot at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. —Devoun Cetoute, Miami Herald, 30 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1872, in the meaning defined above