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Student Strike at Moton High School
Moton High School was an all-black high school in Virginia. It was severely overcrowded and had no facilities: no lockers, no restrooms for teacher, no cafeteria, no school nurse. They were denied funding by the all-white school board, and the students organized a strike to protest poor school conditions, begin to demand desegregation. This was one of the 5 cases that combined to form Brown v Board of Education. -
Brown .v Board of Education
In the earlier court case Plessy v Ferguson, the Supreme Court ruled that “separate but equal” facilities were acceptable. However, in Brown v. Board of Education, families from school districts in Kansas, Delaware, Washington D.C., South Carolina, and Virginia challenged the constitutionality of segregation in public schools. The Supreme Court overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson decision, and began to desegregate public schools. -
Emmett Till Murder
Emmett Till was kidnapped and brutally murdered after saying “Bye Baby” to a white woman on a dare. The nation was outraged at the brutal slaying, especially since he was only 14. The two white men who murdered him were found innocent. -
Montgomery Bus Boycotts Start
African-Americans in Montgomery, Alabama decided to boycott the city buses until they were desegregated. This started in reaction to the arrest of Rosa Parks for refusing to give up her seat for a white man. Eventually, the bus system was forced to desegregate the buses. -
Massive Resistance Declared
U.S. senator Harry F. Byrd, Sr. from Virginia tried to unite white politicians to prevent desegregation of public schools after Brown v. Board of Education. -
Little Rock Nine
Nine black students integrated Little Rock Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. The governor of Arkansas (Orval Faubus) called the Arkansas National Guard to prevent them from entering, and he himself blocked the entrance to the high school. President Dwight D. Eisenhower then sent in the federal National Guard to escort the nine students into the building. -
Greensboro Sit-Ins Begin
Four African-American college students from North Carolina went to an all-white restaurant at Woolworth’s. They were refused service and asked to leave. Other students began to take part, and the next day 24 students were sitting at the counter. Come February 4, white female students from a women’s college had joined them. Soon, sit-ins spread throughout the south, drawing press coverage and furthering the civil rights movement (and in some cases desegregating restaurants). -
Freedom Riders
Members of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) gathered an interracial group that would board buses headed for the south. The white sat in the back and the blacks in the front. At rest tops, the whites went to the black-only parts, and the blacks went to the white-only parts. They met extreme resistance; they were beaten, firebombed, tires were slashed, buses were stoned, and many were jailed. However, the Kennedy Administration issued a mandate outlawing segregation of interstate bus tra -
Integration of Ole Miss
James Meredith, an African-American man, tried to enroll at the University of Mississippi. When repeatedly denied, he filed a lawsuit against Ole Miss, citing the Brown v. Board of Education decision. The Supreme Court ruled in his favor. -
March on Birmingham
organized march and protest by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) for Civil Right. This was led by Martin Luther King Jr. Met opposition from Birmingham police armed with dogs and fire hoses. Public places became more open to blacks as a result of this and MLK’s popularity soared. -
March on Washington
March on Washington: Similar to the March on Birmingham, it was a protest and march on Washington D.C. This was again led by Martin Luther King Jr., where he delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech -
24th Amendment Passes
This Amendment made poll taxes in federal elections illegal. Southern States were using poll taxes in order to discourage blacks from voting, this Amendment encourage black voting in the South. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Passed by President Lyndon B Johnson, it made segregation in public facilities illegal. It also made it illegal to discriminate while hiring for work positions. -
Malcolm X Assassinated
Malcolm X is assassinated: Killed by an extremist of the Nation of Islam with a double-barrel shotgun. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
Outlawed literacy tests in order to register to vote. The South implied certain tests on blacks in order to prevent them from voting. Similar to the 24th Amendment, it encouraged black voting. -
Black Power Movement Begins
A movement to combat against racism in the United States. Also, a movement to get black representatives into government to speak on behalf of the black public. -
Loving v. Virginia
Outlawed all states laws prohibiting mixed-race marriage and all restrictions on marriage involving race. -
Martin Luther King Assassination
Shot by a white supremacist on the balcony of his hotel room. His death led to riots in major cities across the nation.