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Plessy V. Ferguson
Homer Plessy refused to sit in a segregated railroad car, (Him refusing was illegal in the state of Louisiana). The court voted against Plessy saying the law did not conflict with the 13th amendment but just implied a legal distinction between the two races. They played on technicalities by saying the 14th amendment didn't imply the inferiority of either race. (http://bit.ly/1uuLcJp) -
Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)
Starting in March of 1942 an organization started that would be a leading cause in the fight against segregation. The first started getting attention after their involvement in the sit-in movement at lunch counters that refused to serve blacks. Around a year later, they organized the first freedom ride to desegregate interstate transportation. Although participants in Alabama were brutally beat, many people still carried out the Freedom Ride during the summer (http://bit.ly/2nCak4H). -
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Sweatt V. Painter
Heman Marion Sweatt applied to the University of Texas Law School in 1946. Since the state law only allowed admissions for whites, his application was automatically thrown out. He went to court and the univeristy tried to provide a law schools for black law students. The Court difured that the "law school for negroes" wouldnt even be close to the texas law school and having segregation would only hurt the white law students when trying to work in the real world. (http://bit.ly/2nqJY3w) -
Jackie Robinson
Although Jackie Robinson first made history in 1947 by breaking the color boundary to play baseball. He was put into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962. He was promoted to the Dodgers after one year of playing for the Montreal Royals. Many African Americans saw this as a way to keep embracing integration. He faced a lot of abuse but he did not fight back. (http://bit.ly/1n14iFE) -
Brown V. Board of Education
A total of 4 cases in different state was the actual case of this. The cases talked about the segregation in public school based on race. Some African American minor were denied admissions into certain public schools. They argued that this segregation was a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th amendment. The Supreme Court ruled that the African American students had to be accepted to the white public schools. (http://bit.ly/1p1Oc1f) -
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Montgomery Bus Boycott
The protest first started after December 1st when Rosa Parks wouldnt give her seat on the bus to a white man on a Montgomery bus. The boycott lasted 381 days. The boycott spread through churches and Martin Luther King Jr was elected as its president and he continued the boycott until the city met the groups demands. The demands didnt include changing the segregation laws at first all they wanted was for them to higher black drivers, and have a first com first seat policy. (http://bit.ly/1ymBgQq) -
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The Southern Manifesto
The formal titled is the "Declaration of Constitutional Principles" it was signed by a total of 101 people and it stated that seperate schools for black and white children were okay. And this document was against the racial integration of public places. It urged states to resit from the integration. (http://to.pbs.org/1hc6YZt) -
Southern Christian Leadership Conference
The SCLC was created after 60 black minister and civil rights leaders met in Atlanta to discuss the strategy and tactic or the bus boycott. Martin Luther King Jr, was chosen as the first president of this group. They were dedicated to end the legalized segregation. They were a nonviolent group that started many marches to protest segregation and discrimination. -
Little Rock Nine
Little Rock Central High School was an all white school that was integrated with 9 African American students. Although the first day of class was actually September 4th, the Governor called in the National Guard to block the students from entering the school Later in the month (the 25th) Eisenhower sent federal troops to escort the students inside school. Only 1 student from the little rock nine (Green) graduated from the school in 1958. (http://bit.ly/1ufa8Cs) -
Greensboro Sit-In
Although there were advances in the fight or racial equality, segregation was still very common and a social norm in the southern states. Four black men staged the first sit in and were influenced by the non-violent protest they had seen before. They sat down at the lunch counter where they refused to serve anything other than whites. The four men refused to move and they stayed until the store closed and then showed up when they opened the next day. (http://bit.ly/1MP3Fql) -
Studen Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)
This group was formed with African American teens in mind, they wanted the civil movements to move faster and they thought the SCLC was out of touch with younger blacks. They played a big part in the Freedom Rides. They also directed much of the black voter registration in the southern states. (http://bit.ly/2g8KEXt) -
Freedom Rides
13 African-American an white civil rights activist started the freedom rides. This was a bunch of bus trips through the south, it was started to protest segregation in bus terminals. While on the bus to the south they tried to integrate the bus. They would try to use the opposite races lunch counters, restrooms etc. They were met with a lot of violence but didnt give up. A little over a year later the bus and train stations were integrated. (http://bit.ly/1vgaxE1) -
The 24th Amendment
This new amendment would outlaw the poll tax as a requirement for voting. The poll tax exemplified Jim crow laws. The poll taxed affected African Americans in Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, Virginia, and Texas. Many thought that this still did not protect African Americans voting right in state and local elections enough. (http://bit.ly/QnfjlF) -
Letter from a Birmingham Jail
After Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested for protesting how blacks were being treated in Birmingham Alabama, he wrote a letter to the newspaper explaining himself and why he broke the law. Birmingham was an extremely segregated and was a hard place to live for African Americans. (http://bit.ly/2nhCT3E) -
James Meredith Shot
James Meredith was the first African American to attend the University Of Mississippi, afterwards he started a civil rights march throughout the south. He was also a former serviceman in the U.S. Air Force and wanted to start his walk to March Against Fear. On June 6th he was shot by a sniper and was sent to the hospital. Other Civil Rights leaders continued the march in his honor. June 26th James recovered and returned to finish the march. (http://bit.ly/1oA25xm) -
Medger Evers
Being one of the most active civil rights leader in Mississippi he got a lot of hate and attention. HE was shot in his driveway on June 12th of 1963. He served in WW@ before he started working for the NAACP. He was buried with the full military honors and the NAACP awarded him their 1963 Spingard Medal. After hist death the NAACP gave his position to his brother. (http://bit.ly/2iQuaXC) -
Bombing of Birmingham Church
The segregated south did not change much after the famous Mach on Washington. The southern states reacted with more violence and on September 15th a bomb exploded at a baptist church. This Church was a predominantly black congregation and it also served as a meeting place for civil rights leaders. During the blast 4 girls were killed and many were injured. This helped draw nation attention to what African Americans were going through. (http://bit.ly/1CwahtD) -
March on Washington
This was a political rally where more than 200,000 Americans gathered together in Washington D.C. This march was organized to show the social challenges African Americans faced across the country. The day had speeches, songs, and prayers. Martin Luther King's famous "I Have a Dream" was one of the many amazing speeches that was given that day. -
Mississippi Freedom Summer
CORE and SNCC organized a voter registration drive in the summer of 1964 it was meant to increase voter registration in Mississippi. On June 15th the first 300 arrived to Mississippi but the next day a total of 3 people disappeared and were found dead 6 weeks later. This helped pass the long awaiting civil rights bill after the news of the murders were swept up through the nation. (http://bit.ly/1jCdm18) -
Civil Rights Act
The Civil Rights Act ended segregation in public pace and banned employment discrimination not only on race, but also religion, sex, or national origin. This was originally proposed by John. F. Kennedy, and his successor was the one who signed it. It was aimed at bringing equality to African Americans. (http://bit.ly/1udSFsU) -
Malcolm X Assassination
After Malcolm was released from prison he because a minister in New York. Malcolm was different from Martin Luther King in the sense Malcolm would help with the liberation of African Americans "by any means necessary" While talking at one of his rallies he was shot to death by Nation of Islam members. (http://bit.ly/1lATEnS) -
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Selma to Montgomery March
In another attempt to register more black voters, Martin Luther King led around 2,000 people on a march from Selma to Montgomery. They faced a lot of hate during there first attempt and had to turn back due to roads being blocked off. The marchers were protected by U.S. army troops and the Alabama National Guard that Johnson had order under federal control. They walked around 12 hours a day and slept in fields. (http://bit.ly/1nGD5oz) -
Black Panthers
In 1966, Huey Newton and Bobby Seale wanted something for self defense. With this in mind they create the Black Panthers. They wanted real economic, social, and political equality across gender and color borders. They used some of the same practices of Malcolm X and were both had a militant revolutionary style. Throughout the years they helped school children, and many others. (http://bit.ly/1UsJ13V) -
King Assassination
Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Tennessee and it was world news that shocked everyone. He was a black minister that led the civil rights movement and led many nonviolent sit ins, boycotts, and protest marches. After hearing the news many people rioted (more than 100 cities around the U.S.) President Johnson tried to calm everyone down and also passed the civil rights act of 1968 7 days after his death to try to help. June 8th his murder was found. (http://bit.ly/1v0B75e) -
Voters Rights Act Passed
This new act outlawed the use of literally test in order to register to vote. African Americans were just trying to be able to exercise their rights that they were suppose to have from the 15th amendment. Although there were still some people who didnt listen to this new law, voter turnout increased from 6% to 59% in just just 5 years in Mississippi alone. (http://bit.ly/1x2nE2e)
