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5.0: Introduction

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    The left photo shows Lyndon B. Johnson handing the pen used to sign the Voting Rights Act to Martin Luther King, Jr. on August 6, 1965. The right image is a map of the state of Georgia by county. The vast majority of the state is colored red, indicating Republican voting. A few isolated areas, representing urban and university areas such as Atlanta, Athens, Augusta, and Savannah, are colored blue indicating a majority Democratic vote.
    Figure 5.1 On August 6, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson meets with Atlanta native Martin Luther King, Jr. at the signing of the Voting Rights Act (left). Access to polling places, early voting, mail-in voting, and other considerations all have significant implications on voters rights, and any barriers can deeply influence elections. On the right side of the image, the 2024 Georgia election map shows the sharp differences in voting by location, with urban areas voting for Democratic candidates and the rest of the state voting largely Republican. (credit left: modification of "Lyndon Johnson and Martin Luther King, Jr. - Voting Rights Act" by Yoichi Okamoto/Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain; credit right: modification of "Georgia Presidential Election Results 2024" by ZackCarns/Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain, based on data provided by the Georgia Secretary of State. Public Domain)

    The U.S Constitution and its founding principles of liberty, equality, and justice are admired and emulated the world over. However, not everyone living in the U.S. has enjoyed the same treatment and freedoms the law promises. When we consider the experiences of women, immigrants, people of color, LGBTQ people, people with disabilities, and other groups, a majority of Americans have been deprived of basic rights and opportunities, and sometimes of citizenship itself. This idea of America is, indeed, a work in progress.

    The struggle for civil rights is a story of courageous individuals and social movements awakening fellow Americans, compelling lawmakers, and inspiring the courts to make good on these founding promises. While many changes must still be made, the past one hundred years have seen remarkable progress. Yet, as the rash of thinly-veiled voter suppression bills making their way through state legislatures demonstrate, (Figure 5.1), members of these groups still encounter prejudice, discrimination, and even exclusion from civic life.

    What is the difference between civil liberties and civil rights? How did the African American struggle for civil rights evolve? What challenges did women overcome in securing the right to vote, and what obstacles do they and other U.S. groups still face? This chapter addresses these and other questions in exploring the essential concepts of civil rights.

    This page titled 5.0: Introduction is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by OpenStax via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform.