-
Period: to
1950s
-
Sweatt v. Painter
The Supreme Court ruled that in states where public graduate and professional schools existed for white students but not for black students, black students must be admitted to the all-white institutions, and that the equal protection clause required Sweatt's admission to the University of Texas School of Law.
Achievement -
Keys v. Carolina Coach
Sarah Keys Evans refused to give up her seat on a bus, prompting the landmark court case, Sarah Keys v. Carolina Coach Company, in which the Interstate Commerce Commission made illegal the segregation of Black passengers in buses traveling across state lines.
Legislation/Supreme Court Case -
Northern Violence over School Integration
The court agreed that racial segregation of children in public schools was unconstitutional, which meant that separating children in public schools by race went against the U.S. Constitution. School segregation was now against the law.
Achievement -
Cooper v. Aaron
The Supreme Court ruled that the state of Arkansas could not pass legislation undermining the Court's ruling in Brown v. Board of Education (1954) that racial segregation in public schools is unconstitutional.
Legislation/Supreme Court Case -
Emmett Till’s Murder
Emmett Till (a 14 years old boy) was murdered in Mississippi after allegedly flirting with a white women.
Violence by Opposition -
Creation of the Montgomery Improvement Association
It was established in Montgomery, Alabama as a movement to fight for civil rights for African Americans and specifically for the desegregation of the buses in Alabama's capitol city.
Achievement
Protest -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
The Montgomery Bus Boycott was considered the first large protest against segregation. African Americans refused to drive city buses in Montgomery.
Protest -
Founding of the Southern Christian
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) was created when sixty black ministers and civil rights leaders met in Atlanta, Georgia trying to copy the successful strategy and tactics of the Montgomery, Alabama bus boycott.
Protest -
Civil Rights Act of 1957
The Civil Rights Act of 1957 was the first civil rights legislation since the Reconstruction. The purpose of this was to increase the number of black voters in the South.
Legislation/Supreme Court Case
Achievement -
Little Rock Nine Crisis
Nine African American teenagers started protesting against segregation in front of a high school, (Little Rock Central High School.)
Protest -
Period: to
1960s
-
Greensboro Sit-In
The Greensboro sit-in was a civil rights protest when young African American students sat down in a counter in Greensboro, and refused to leave after being denied service. The sit-in movement soon spread to college towns in the South.
Protest -
Freedom Rides
There were political protests against segregation. Black and white people rode buses through the south of U.S.
Protest -
Albany Campaign
The Albany Campaign aimed to end segregation in the city. They also protested for voting rights.
Protest -
Integration of the University of Mississippi
After the assassination of James Meredith(boy that was trying to assist to an all white college) some students of the University of Mississippi protested and created riots to protest against segregation.
Protest
Violence by Opposition -
Birmingham Movement
The Birmingham campaign was an American movement organized by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) to bring attention to the integration efforts of African Americans in Birmingham, Alabama, and to protest against segregation.
Protest -
Assassination of Medgar Evers
Medgar Evers was assassinated when he was going back home after a meeting of the NAACP. He traveled through his state encouraging poor African Americans to register to vote and recruit them into the civil rights movement.
Violence by Opposition -
March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
It was the largest protest for civil rights. 250,000 people went to the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. People all over the country flew and drove there to join the march.
Protest -
Mississippi Freedom Summer
The Mississippi Freedom Summer was when black and white people joined and protests against African Americans discrimination and for their rights to vote. Their aim was to increase the number of black voters in Mississippi.
Protest -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act pf 1964 passed a new law that prohibit discrimination on the basis of color, sex, race, religion or national origin. This was made to end segregation.
Achievement
Legislation/Supreme Court Case -
Heart of Atlanta Motel vs. US
The government said that motels had to let people in without discriminating them by race. Everybody should have the right to go to a motel.
Achievement -
assassination of Malcolm x
Malcolm X, a religious and civil rights leader, was assassinated during a speech at the Audubon Ballroom in Manhattan. He was addressing his Organization of Afro-American Unity and protesting for rights.
Violence by Opposition -
March from Selma to Montgomery
Thousands of people gathered in Selma, and marched to Montgomery to make sure African Americans could exercise their right to vote. It took them 5 days to get there.
Protest -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
This prohibited some of the Southern states to deny the right of voting based on race. (It also denied literacy tests)
Protest -
James Meredith’s March Against Fear
James Meredith, who had joined the University of Mississippi in 1962, began the March Against Fear. They tried to walk from Memphis, Tennessee, to Jackson, Mississippi, to promote black voters and to protest against racism. On the second day of the march he was shot.
Violence by Opposition
Protest -
Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King was shot while he was standing on a balcony at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. Martin Luther King, Jr. assassination prompted outbreaks of racial violence. More than 40 people died and also properties were damaged in over 100 cities.
Violence by Opposition -
Fair Housing Act
The Fair Housing Act mad it illegal to discriminate in housing because of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, physical or mental handicaps... This prevent discrimination when people were trying to rent or buy a house.
Achievement -
Period: to
1970s
-
Swann vs. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools
Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education established that federal courts had the authority to intervene regarding the desegregation of schools in the states. it permits the systematic use of buses to convey children of different races across district lines to achieve the goal of integrating public schools.
Achievement -
Shirley Chisholm’s Presidential Campaign
She became the first black candidate for a major-party nomination for President of the United States, and the first woman to run for the Democratic Party's nomination.
Achievement -
Hank Aaron’s Home Run Record
Hank Aaron hit his 715th career home run off Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher to break the record held by Babe Ruth.
Achivement -
Barbara Jordan’s Address at the Democratic National Convention
She was the first African-American as well as the first woman to deliver a keynote address at a party’s convention.
Achievement -
University of California Regents vs. Bakke
The Supreme Court ruled that a university's use of racial "quotas" in its admissions process was unconstitutional, but a school's use of "affirmative action" to accept more minority applicants was constitutional in some circumstances.
Achievement
Legislation/Supreme Court Case