Ma'anar ƙamus na kalmar "ƙungiyoyin kare hakkin jama'a" yana nufin motsi na zamantakewa da siyasa a Amurka wanda ke da nufin tabbatar da doka da tsarin mulki ga jama'ar Amirkawa na Afirka da sauran tsiraru, musamman a tsakiyar karni na 20. Kungiyar ta yi kokarin kawo karshen wariyar launin fata da wariyar launin fata, da kuma tabbatar da daidaito da kuma damammaki ga kowane mutum, ba tare da la'akari da launin fata, kabila, ko wasu halaye ba. Wannan motsi ya kasance da zanga-zangar da ba ta dace ba, zanga-zangar, da rashin biyayya ga jama'a, kuma wasu manyan masu fafutuka da kungiyoyi ne suka jagoranta, ciki har da Martin Luther King Jr., Ƙungiyar Ƙungiyar Ƙwararrun Ƙwararrun Ƙwararru (NAACP), da Congress. na Daidaiton Kabilanci (CORE), da sauransu. Ana ɗaukar ƙungiyoyin kare haƙƙin jama'a a matsayin wani muhimmin lokaci a tarihin Amurka, kuma ya yi tasiri sosai kan dokokin ƙasar, ƙa'idodin zamantakewa, da halayen al'adu.