Legacies of The Civil Rights Movement in South Carolina

Legacies of The Civil Rights Movement in South Carolina. . , Many consider the 1960s as the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement, but the African American struggle for equality began much earlier. Throughout the 20th century, Black South Carolinians fought to bridge the gap between America's democratic ideals and their own experiences. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and other civic groups filed lawsuits, formed political parties, and waged direct protests to integrate the "whites only" Democratic Party. In Elmore v. Rice (1947), which was argued by Columbia attorney Harold Boulware and Thurgood Marshall, the federal courts ruled that the Democratic Party should be opened to all South Carolinians. , One of the hallmarks of the state's civil rights litigation was Briggs v. Ellion (1951), which I stemmed from a grassroots campaign to equalize schools in rural Clarendon County. This case laid the foundation for the landmark 1954 Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision that outlawed public school segregation.