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Brown v. Board of Education
The court case of Plessy v. Ferguson ruled for separate but equal facilities among different races. But, many did not agree with this. A young African American girl from Topeka, Kansas, Linda Brown, tried to go to a nearby white elementary school but was denied access and told to go to a black school farther away. Her parents sued the school, resulting in the Brown v. Board case. The result was that schools could no longer be segregated. Unfortunately, many southerns districts didn't listen. -
Rosa Parks Arrested for Refusing to Give Up Her Bus Seat
In Montgomery, African Americans had been boycotting bus systems in Alabama. A few days before this all began, something happened that inspired many. Rosa Parks was on a bus after a long day and was asked to get up so a white man could sit. Rosa refused to give up her seat for him just because she was black and he was white. This resulted in her arrest and also sparked a revolution. Others began to follow in her path. Eventually, this would lead to the end of bus segregation. -
Events in Little Rock, Arkansas
In Little Rock, Arkansas, 9 African American students entered a whites-only high school. Many white students treated them terribly and teachers and officials didn't mind it. The governor even used the National Guard to keep them out. Thankfully, President Eisenhower sent in military troops to escort the students in and protect them during the day. Most white students were angry and mobbed because they did not want African Americans in a white school but, the troops stayed for the whole year. -
Civil Rights Act of 1957
The Civil Rights Act of 1957 passed the first civil rights law since Reconstruction. The Act was intended to protect African American's right to vote. As he expected, the South's senate tried to stop the Act but reluctantly, Lyndon Johnson put together an agreement to allow it to pass. The Act instituted systems that would investigate allegations that would deny voting rights towards African Americans. After the bill was passed, the SCLC campaigned to register 2 million African American votes. -
The SNCC
In April of 1960, Ella Baker, the executive leader of the SCLC invited students leaders to North Carolina. She encouraged them to band together and make their own organization and reminded the students that they had the right to direct their own affairs. Thus, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) is created. African Americans and some white people worked on desegregating public facilities. Their protests in the Deep South were very dangerous but in the end, they found success. -
Attack of the Freedom Riders
Despite laws put in place to end segregation, many southern places still did not abide to them. This angered integration supporters. They were called Freedom Riders and consisted of African Americans and whites. They were put together by members of CORE. They once boarded buses headed for Anniston, Birmingham, and Montgomery, Alabama. Upon arrival to each place, they attacked. They slashed tires and threw rocks at the bus. In Anniston, someone threw a fire bomb. Fortunately, no one was killed. -
Lunch Counter Sit-Ins
In Chicago, the members of the newly-founded Congress of Racial Equality began to perform sit-ins. This is where an African American would go to a white lunch counter and demand service or they would not leave. This was done to aim to humiliate the owner and cause integration. This was also very dangerous because sometimes, white people would get very angry and cause physical harm to the participants. But, the sit-in participants did not fight back. This strategy had successful results as well. -
James Meredith Enrolls at Ole Miss
In September 1962, a man named James Meredith had a court order to attend the University of Mississippi. Unfortunately, he was denied because of his race, regardless of his order. Kennedy became furious and sent hundreds of federal marshals to escort Meredith in the campus. Many white students were angry, since they had not done anything to have the marshals against them. They mobbed and it got very physical. Many were hurt and Kennedy sent army troops in. Meredith graduated that August. -
Medgar Evers Assassinated
During WWII, Medgar Evers participated in the U.S. Army and was part of the invasion in Normandy. He also had worked for the NAACP and traveled around his Mississippi home state and encouraged African Americans to register to vote. He was also helpful in getting witnesses and evidence for the a murder case, which brought national attention to the situation of African Americans in the South. Evers was unfortunately shot and killed in Jackson by a white supremacist, who wasn't charged until 1994. -
The March on Washington
William A. Philip Randolph and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. agreed on and performed a massive march to the nation's capital. This was in protest of unequal treatment of African Americans. There were over 200,000 participants. People gathered peacefully at the Lincoln Memorial were Dr. King gave his "I Have A Dream" speech, talking about his wish for equality among all citizens of the United States. His peaceful speech provided a step forward to equality. But, Congress opposition still held back. -
Bombing of Birmingham Church
On the 15th of September in 1963, in Birmingham, Alabama, a bomb was set off before mass at the 16th Street Baptist Church. The church was mainly black congregation and also served as a meeting place for civil rights leaders. Four young girls were killed and many were harmed in this epidemic. Outrage over the situation caused violence between African Americans and the police force. In the end, a KKK leader, Robert E. Chambliss, was tried and found guilty for murder and eventually died in prison. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Congress was having a difficult time signing in the Civil Rights Act of 1964 because the Senate was reluctant. When Lyndon Johnson took over as president when Kennedy was assassinated. Southerners were worried that he would support a bill and he did. He committed himself to continue Kennedy's legacy. He was finally successful in pressuring the Senate into voting and passed the bill in early July. The law made it illegal to segregate places and created equal and integrated facilities. -
March to Selma
The March to Selma was organized for the SCLC's campaign to get all African Americans registered to vote. At this point, Dr. King was demanding ballots and was able to lead 2,000 African Americans from Selma to Montgomery. During their march, however, police forces beat people on television. This became known as "Bloody Sunday" because it left 70 African Americans hospitalized. The march was, however, a success in the end because days later, Johnson proposed a new voting rights law. -
The Voting Rights Act of 1965
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was a huge step for African Americans. It was then on illegal to turn away someone wanting to register to vote. Literacy tests were also banned. The astonishing results showed 250,000 registered African American votes by the end of the year. This was a massive step in the civil rights movement because now segregation was illegal and new laws were put in place to protect voting rights. -
The Watts Riots
Just days after the president signed the Voting Rights Act, Los Angeles neighborhoods broke out in massive riots that lasted for six days. 14,000 National Guard members and 1,500 law officials were required to restore order. People involved in the riots destroyed $45 million worth of neighborhood property. 34 people were killed and hundreds were injured in the epidemic. It was not over. Other black neighborhoods in the U.S. started riots. Detroit looked as if it had been bombed. -
Thurgood Marshall First Black Supreme Court Justice
Thurgood Marshall attended racially segregated schools as a child and graduated from Lincoln University. He began his career as and attorney for the NAACP and was extremely successful in his cases. Later, he was appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals in 1961. Then, President Johnson made him solicitor general in 1965, and then finally, Marshall became the first black Supreme Justice in 1967. This was a monumental event because this gave African Americans more power and ability to do things. -
The Assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Dr. King went to Memphis, Tennessee to support a strike of African American sanitation workers. His campaign was made to lobby the government to commit billions of dollars to end poverty and unemployment in the United States. Many people camped out around DC until Johnson would fund the proposal. On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated by James Earl Ray with a sniper. His death launched national morning and hundreds of riots. But, people continued his legacy and the movement.
