Congress of Racial Equality

Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), U.S. interracial organization founded in 1942 by James Farmer to promote African American civil rights and liberties through nonviolent direct action projects. Its voter registration drives and “freedom rides” in the South led to civil rights legislation in the 1960s. In the 1970s CORE became more militant. By the 1980s it had virtually ceased to exist.