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Plessy v. Ferguson
Plessy v. Ferguson made racial segregation legal in public facilities as long as these facilities were equal in quality to white facilities. It was determined that this did not violate the 14th Amendment. This became known as separate but equal. -
NAACP
NAACP stands for National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The NAACP gained over 6,000 members by 1914 and wanted to achieve full equality among the races. -
The Sit-Ins
The first sit-in occurred in Chicago, where African American protestors sat down at segregated lunch counters and refused to leave until they were served -
Race Riots
A race riot is a public outbreak of violence between two racial groups. One of the biggest race riots occurred in Detroit in 1943. False rumors were spread that whites had murdered a black woman and her child and that blacks had murdered 17 whites. This conflict lead to the death of 9 whites and 25 blacks. -
Malcolm X
Malcolm X quit school in the 8th grade and was later arrested for burglary at the age of 20. While in jail he joined the nation of Islam. Later, in 1952 he was released from jail and became an Islamic minister. In addition, he urged African Americans to identify with Africa and work with world organizations. He is a continuing inspiration for many Americans. -
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka
The Supreme Court ruled that American state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools is unconstitutional, regardless if the black schools are equal in quality to the white schools. -
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
MLK played a major role in the civil rights movement. He believed in nonviolent resistance or as he called it, soul force. He based his ideas off of several people. He took the concept of civil disobedience from Thoreau, learned to organize massive demonstrations from Philip Randolph, and learned to resist oppression without violence from Gandhi. MLK was assassinated in 1968. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
This was a Civil Rights protest in which African Americans refused to ride the city buses in Montgomery. The Montgomery Bus Boycott was the first large scale U.S. demonstration against segregation. The buses were almost empty because 2/3 of bus riders were black. -
Emmett Till
A 14 year old African American boy from Chicago, named Emmitt Till, was visiting family in Mississippi for the Summer. He was accused of flirting with a white wonman in her family's grocery store. Later that week he was brutally murdered. -
Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks was a seamstress and NAACP officer. She took a seat in the front row of the colored section of a Montgomery bus. The bus became crowded and the driver oredered Parks and three other African Americans to give up their seats to a white man so he didn't have to sit next to any African Americans. Rosa Parks refused and was arrested. News of her arrest spread rapidly. -
Little Rock School Integration
A group of nine African American students enrolled in Little Rock Central High School. The students were initially prevented from entering the racially segregated school by Orval Faubus, the Governor. They were then able to attend after President Eisenhower intervened. Each kid had their own guard to travel with throughout the school. -
De Jure vs. De Facto Segregation
De facto segregation is segregation that exists by practice and custom. Meanwhile, De jure segregation is segregation by law. De facto segregation was more of a problem to African Americans than De jure. This is because it is harder to change someones mind than it is to repeal a law. -
Freedom Rides
Civil Rights activists rode interstate buses into the segregated Southern United States to challenge the non-enforcement of the U.S. Supreme Court decisions Morgan v. Virginia and Boynton v. Virginia, ruling that segregated public buses were unconstitutional. -
24th Amendment
The 24th Amendment forbids the prevention of citizens from voting due to the non-payment of poll tax. It was passed on August 27, 1962. -
March on Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham, Alabama was one of the most segregated cities in the south. About 1,000 African American students attempted a march from Selma into downtown Birmingham. Over one hundred students were arrested. -
March on Washington
The purpose of the march was to advocate for the civil rights of African Americans. 250,000 people gathered at the Lincoln Memorial and more than 3,000 members of the press covered the event. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
This act prohibited discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin by federal and state governments. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
This act had added nearly one million African Americans to the voting rolls. Nixon opposed this extension of the act. However, despite his opposition, Congress voted to extend the act. -
March from Selma to Montgomery
About 600 people started a planned march on Sunday March 7, 1965. The march was organized by non-violent activists to demonstrate the desire of African American citizens to exercise their right to vote. -
Black Panther Party
It was founded in Oakland, California by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale to fight police brutality in the ghetto. -
Thurgood Marshall
Marshall was dedicated to fighting racism. In 1938, Houston placed his best team of law students under Marshall's direction. Over the next 23 years, they would win 29 out of the 32 cases argued before the Supreme Court. In 1967, he became the first African American Supreme Court justice. He remained a strong advocate of civil rights until he retired in 1991
