<Li> Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (1965) </Li> <Li> Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity within US Department of Housing and Urban Development (1968) </Li> <P> The Civil Rights Movement (also known as the American civil rights movement, African - American civil rights movement, and other terms,) was a human rights movement from 1954--1968 that encompassed strategies, groups, and social movements to accomplish its goal of ending legalized racial segregation and discrimination laws in the United States . The movement secured the legal recognition and federal protection of black Americans in the United States Constitution and federal law . </P> <P> The movement was characterized by major campaigns of civil resistance . Between 1955 and 1968, acts of nonviolent protest and civil disobedience produced crisis situations and productive dialogues between activists and government authorities . Federal, state, and local governments, businesses, and communities often had to respond immediately to these situations, which highlighted the inequities faced by African Americans . The lynching of Emmett Till and the visceral response to his mother's decision to have an open - casket funeral mobilized the African - American community nationwide . Forms of protest and / or civil disobedience included boycotts such as the successful Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955--56) in Alabama; "sit - ins" such as the influential Greensboro sit - ins (1960) in North Carolina and successful Nashville sit - ins in Tennessee; marches, such as the Birmingham Children's Crusade and Selma to Montgomery marches (1965) in Alabama; and a wide range of other nonviolent activities . </P>

When did the american civil rights movement end