Since before the founding of the United States, the issue of white versus black oppression has permeated American society. From the three-quarters clause of the Constitution to the American Civil War, from Reconstruction to the Double V campaign, and to some extent to the present, a racial order has maintained black people as socially second-class citizens , politically and economically. Although some of these issues still remain unresolved, a major period of progress occurred in the 1950s and 1960s, beginning with Thurgood Marshall's victory in Brown v. The Board of Education. Desegregation quickly swept the United States through successful protests, including the Montgomery bus boycott, the Greensboro sit-ins, and the Birmingham campaign, culminating in the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 soon followed, together guaranteeing African Americans (and members of all races) equality under the law. However, the work to enforce these rights then became America's responsibility, with much of black activism turning to support for self-determination movements like Black Power and activist organizations like the Black Panther Party. Fear of these movements among the white population intensified in the 1970s, when violent protests broke out against busing in Boston. In the 1980s, white flight imposed de facto segregation in American cities as black activism waned. Officials prematurely insisted that America was now “color-blind,” signaling the end of an era marked by great awareness and expansion of social, political, and economic equality for African Americans. However, in reality, the race issue in America was too entrenched to disappear completely in such a short time and continues to be a source of conflict in society today. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Spearheading the promotion of racial equality was a challenge to the "separate but equal" doctrine established in 1896 by Plessy c. Ferguson. Attorney Thurgood Marshall, who had spent many years trying to overturn this doctrine before, argued that "even with the same funding and facilities – which was unheard of anyway – segregation was inherently unequal because that it stigmatized a group of citizens as being a group of citizens. unfit to associate with others” (Foner, Brief 4th ed, p 757). The court responded unanimously in favor of Marshall, with Earl Warren reading the decision that "separating [blacks] from others of the same age and qualifications solely because of their race generates a feeling of inferiority as to their status in the community" and that "in the field of public education, the doctrine of 'separate but equal' has no place" (Atlanta Constitution, May 18, 1954). This victory marks the beginning of the end of legal segregation, even if it remains an anchored element in American society. After Brown against The Board of Education, new protests are preparing to dismantle segregation in sectors other than education. The Montgomery Bus Boycott, for example, "crippled" Montgomery's bus lines in an attempt to establish a "first come, first served" rule seven weeks after the protest began, forcing the company to double its prices (Philadelphia Tribune, January 17). 1956). Despite this rapid success, it will still take severalweeks of pressure for the boycott to achieve its objectives. In the eighth week, Mayor WA Gayle responded to protesters' demands by saying, "[if black leaders] want us to destroy our social fabric, then there is no chance of ending the boycott" ( The Chicago Defender, February 4, 1956). Clearly, the task of establishing a shred of equality for blacks involved breaking the social fabric and weaving a new one. After more than a year of protest, African Americans finally agreed to end the boycott as soon as the Supreme Court's ruling against bus segregation took effect (The Sun, November 15, 1956). This happened on December 21, 1956, although it marked only a small step closer to desegregating America and gaining support for racial equality. Other protests and movements quickly highlighted the glaring injustices of the American social order against black people. In 1960, for example, "sit-ins" initiated by students in Greensboro challenged discrimination at the lunch counter, their movement quickly spreading "to other Southern cities and capturing the sympathy of other students in the East, North and Midwest” (Cleveland Call and Post, August 6, 1960). Even if in fact "there was no law prohibiting black people from being served at the lunch counter", this campaign called into question the local customs which nevertheless prohibited it, thus imposing rules even more socially rooted in the American company (New Journal and Guide, February 13, 1960). By July 1960, sit-ins had “ended the use of the color bar in at least 15 southern cities” (Newsday, July 26, 1960). The Birmingham campaign of 1963 also publicly demonstrated the opposition of white society, particularly in the South, to the basic civil rights of African Americans. Although once again there was no law prohibiting blacks from marching in the streets of Birmingham, they were attacked with batons, high-pressure fire hoses and attack dogs (Foner, Brief 4th ed , p 772). This climactic event, along with widespread movements and protests across the United States, ultimately led to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Legally, African Americans had finally overturned the doctrine of white supremacy in the United States. In practice, however, much greater progress was needed to ensure equality between whites and blacks, and for many this meant a controversial change in strategy. Notably, until the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the principle of nonviolence had been the driving force of the movement. From the beginning of King's leadership in the Montgomery bus boycott, he warned that "if we fall victim to violent intent, we will have marched in vain" and that "[our] glorious dignity will be transformed into the eve of a dark catastrophe” (The Washington Post and Times Herald, December 21, 1956). Some may argue that this actually happened in the late 1960s, but in any case the nature of the African American movement, as well as the resistance to it, changed dramatically as new measures aimed at reshaping society were taken. Floyd B. McKissick, national director of CORE (Congress of Racial Equality), represented one of many spokespeople for a new movement called Black Power. This movement broadly sought to create "a unified voice reflecting racial pride in the tradition of a heterogeneous nation"; however, it also decentralized black activism and "abandoned nonviolence as a technique for fighting for racial equality" (African American,.