20. Civil rights and enforceable equal citizenship
Individuals & institutions
Thurgood Marshall, Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, Lyndon Johnson
Events & dates
Brown v. Board of Education rejected public-school segregation in 1954. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibited major forms of discrimination; the Voting Rights Act of 1965 targeted racial barriers to voting.
Consequences & historical significance
Federal legislation and court decisions expanded enforceable rights amid resistance and continuing disparities. These reforms drew on earlier Reconstruction amendments.