This book explores various historical misconceptions related to the civil rights movement, with each chapter discussing how a particular misconception developed and spread and what we now believe to be the truth behind the myth.

Largely identified with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the civil rights movement continues to have a lasting impact on American politics and society. Though focused on African Americans, it helped make possible later protests by other groups. As one of the most important movements in modern U.S. history, it has been at the center of a number of historical misconceptions. This book examines some mistaken ideas about the civil rights movement and the truths behind the myths.

Each chapter is devoted to a particular historical misconception about the civil rights movement, such as the belief that Southern whites were not civil rights activists or that the movement ended with King. Chapters discuss how the misconception developed and spread, along with what we now believe to be the historical truth and why. Quotations from primary sources provide evidence for the historical facts and fictions, and a selected, general bibliography directs readers to additional sources of information.

Chapters individually discuss misconceptions related to the civil rights movement

Each chapter considers how a historical misconception developed and spread, along with what we now believe to be the truth behind the myth

Quotations from primary source documents provide evidence for the mistaken beliefs and the historical truths

A selected, general bibliography directs users to additional resources