Civil rights organizations have been a driving force in Houston, Texas politics for decades. Their mission is to ensure that all Texans have access to their civil rights, such as voting rights, criminal justice reform, racial and economic justice, and other issues. The South Texas Human Rights Center is a community organization in Falfurrias, Texas that works to protect and promote human rights and dignity in the region. The African American population in Texas has a long history of fighting for their political rights. From the civil rights movement of the 1960s to the current Black Lives Matter movement, civil rights organizations have been at the forefront of these efforts.
Marches from Discovery Green in Houston to City Hall have been held in protest of the assassination of Mr. The Houston LGBT Political Caucus was founded in 1975 and is the largest GLBT political organization in Houston and Harris County. It is dedicated to promoting equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. Khush Texas is another organization that provides a social community and support network for LGBT South Asians in Texas. Mexican-Americans have been striving for equal treatment and political power since the arrival of Anglo-American settlers from the United States in the 1820s and 1830s. Amaanah Refugee Services focuses on providing post-resettlement services to women and children in Houston and Austin, Texas. In 1952, after a dispute with the Truman administration over oil off the Texas coast, Shivers helped Eisenhower win Texas - only the second Republican presidential candidate to do so since Reconstruction.
By the late 1920s, Texas politicians had effectively immobilized Afro-Texan voters through court cases that defined political parties as private organizations that could exclude their members. Today, civil rights organizations continue to fight for equal treatment and political power for all Texans. Issues such as affirmative action remain relevant in higher education, but the civil rights movement has permanently changed the social and political landscape of Texas.