Final answer:
The civil rights movement aimed to fight against racial segregation and secure equal rights for African Americans in the United States. The Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 ruled segregation in public schools unconstitutional.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question is about the civil rights movement in the early 1900s and the time it took for desegregation to become common in public schools after the Supreme Court's mid-century decision. The civil rights movement was a significant social and political movement that aimed to fight against racial segregation and secure equal rights for African Americans in the United States. It started in the early 1900s and gained momentum throughout the 1950s and 1960s.
One of the key events that influenced the civil rights movement was the Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, which ruled that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. However, it took several years after this decision for desegregation to become common in public schools. It wasn't until the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act that the government had the necessary mechanisms to enforce desegregation. This act prohibited discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin in various aspects of public life, including public schools.