Part 3The Modern Civil Rights Movement1945–1968

By the mid-1940s, many African Americans became increasingly vocal to protect and claim their civil rights. New economic and educational opportunities, including the G.I. Bill, decreased African American dependence on farming and sharecropping. Thousands of African Americans relocated to cities, where they enjoyed new freedoms. Many were willing to fight to preserve these new freedoms and demanded equality, even if it meant risking their own safety.