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, I only heard about the Civil Rights Movement and the 1964 Act in school when I was growing up, and I didn't know I was reaping the benefits until I was old enough to understand. Unlike the generation before me, I did not have to deal with laws that did not protect individual rights, resulting in continued discrimination, such as attending segregated schools and segregated public places. As a child, I didn't know they were trying to challenge racial discrimination and segregation. Because of the marches, boycotts, protests and measures taken by the federal government to end racial inequality, today we would not have the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which gives blacks the right to vote, citizenship, education and the ability to use public facilities. as civil rights legislation gained momentum after 1945 as a result of black migration to northern cities and the experiences of black soldiers in World War II. Bills introduced in Congress regarding employment policy have brought the issue of civil rights to the attention of representatives and senators. (CongressLink, n.d.). Apparently the Fourteenth Amendment did not protect blacks from having their civil rights violated by individuals. This was the beginning of 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 interfered with by another gives rise to an action for injury. Examples of civil rights are freedom of speech, of the press, of 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 were many legislative attempts that led to the historic milestone of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which is now part of our nation's legacy. The civil rights movements can be traced back to the Reconstruction era.