?PAGE ? ?PAGE ?1? Chapter 6 ? Civil Rights seq NL1 \r 0 \h Overview Through action in the courts and in the Congress, the African American civil rights movement profoundly changed the nature of political participation by African Americans. In particular, southern African Americans entered the political system, establishing an effective array of interest groups. Another decisive move was the mobilization of northern opinion on behalf of this civil rights movement. Northerners initially viewed civil rights as an unfair contest between southern whites and southern African Americans; that perception changed when court rulings and legislative decisions applied to the north as well as the south. Then northern opposition arose to court-ordered busing and affirmative action programs.