I wasn't born until after Martin Luther King died. Born in 1968, I didn't know that African Americans were treated like second-class citizens. The civil rights movement was underway and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was being enforced. Unlike my parents, aunts, and grandparents, when I was growing up, I only learned about the Civil Rights Movement and the 1964 Act in school, and I didn't know I was reaping the benefits. benefits before you are old enough to understand. Unlike the generation before me, I did not have to deal with laws that did not protect individual rights, leading to continued discrimination, such as attending schools and public places. separated. As a little boy, I didn't know that they were trying to challenge racial discrimination and segregation. Because of the marches, boycotts, protests, and actions taken by the federal government to end racial inequality, today we would not have the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that granted black people the right to vote, citizenship, education and the ability to use public facilities. » Civil rights legislation accelerated after 1945 due to black migration to northern cities and the experiences of black soldiers during World War II. Bills introduced in Congress regarding employment policy brought the issue of civil rights to the attention of Representatives and Senators. (CongressLink, n.d.). Apparently, the Fourteenth Amendment did not protect black people from their civil rights which were being violated by individuals. It was a beginning for the civil rights movement, but to understand the Civil Rights Act, you need to know the definition of civil rights. According to Cornell Law School: Wex “A civil right is an enforceable right or privilege which, if infringed by a third party, gives rise to an action for harm. Examples of civil rights are freedom of speech, press, assembly, the right to vote, freedom from involuntary servitude, and the right to equality in public spaces” (Cornell Law School, 2005). Because of the history of discrimination, there have been numerous legislative attempts that led to the historic milestone of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which is now part of our nation's legacy. Civil rights movements date back to the Reconstruction era.