Rise

This installment of an informative series on the civil rights movement focuses on 1978, a year that brought several important steps toward equality. In February, Max Robinson became the first African American to anchor a broadcast network news program for ABC. In June, the Supreme Court ruled in California v. Bakke that affirmative action was lawful in the United States, and that race could be one factor in admissions decisions at colleges and universities. In July, the National Organization for Women organized a march of 100,000 people in Washington, DC, to support the Equal Rights Amendment. That September, Muhammad Ali beat Leon Spinks to win the heavyweight title for a third time, a feat no other boxer had achieved.

The book places 1978 within the broader years from 1967 to 1978, a period when Black Americans working to end discrimination and segregation often faced violence. Despite this opposition, those seeking equal treatment under the law kept pressing forward, creating the conditions for further progress in the decades that followed. The author looks at how this era produced lasting change and how its effects still shape American society.

Each volume in the series covers one year and moves through its events in chronological order, showing the changes that resulted from them. The book is illustrated with many photographs and includes extensive supplementary material at the end.