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1868 14th Amendment
This Amendment granted all U.S born citizens including former slaves. Also, equal protection of the laws. Was in response to post Civil War Reconstruction. -
1896 Plessy v. Ferguson
In June 7th 1892 Homer Plessy got in trouble for sitting in an all white train car. Even though he had a light complexion and was forced to sit in the all black train car. Was also jailed. The Ruling in the Supreme Court upheld the Louisiana law " separate but equal" accommodations for whites and blacks.Highly controversial because it upheld racial laws in place. -
1919 Race Riots in Chicago
With the Great Migration many black had moved to the north causing tension with the whites. The Summer of 1919 was called the red summer because of all the blood the race riots caused. It all started on July 27th on Lake Michigan when a group of African Americans were swimming on the white side of the beach so a group of white people threw rocks at them killing one black kid. When the police officer came to break up the fight he refused to arrest the man who killed the younger kid. many injuries -
Executive order 9981
Executive order 9981 in 1948 was signed by Harry S. Truman ending Racial discrimination in the armed forces. Also, Lead to the ending of segregation in the services. Before this executive order blacks in the military worked under different rules. Like having to wait longer to serve in the Air Corps or combat training. -
1954 Brown Vs. Board of Education
This was a historical Supreme Court decision that declared State laws which had separate facilities for blacks and whites to be unconstitutional. Which Sparked the Civil Rights movement. The background is a young black girl named Linda Brown who was forced to walk through a dangerous railroad everyday to a segregated school. While an all white one was much closer. Her family believed this violated the 14th amendment so they took their case to court and headed all the way to the supreme court. -
Emmit Till
Emmit Till was a young African American teen Mississippi who was 14 and lynched for being accused of flirting with a white women. His mother choose to have a open casket to show the brutality of racism. Thousands attended his funeral. This caused a lot of outrage and helped the Civil Rights cause. -
1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott
The Montgomery Bus Boycott was in Montgomery Alabama. During December 1955 and 1956. African Americans deiced to boycott the local bus company and not ride on their bus to hurt their business. This started after Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat to a white man. The boycott had a significant impact considering the Supreme Court told the bus company's to integrate its bus system. Also, hurt the bus company. -
1957 SCLC
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference was started after the Birmingham Bus Boycott. Its leader was Martin Luther King Jr. until his death. They organized the freedom riders. The organization marched against racism and discrimination. -
1957 Little Rock Central High School
At Little Rock High School in 1957 nine black students walked to the front steps of an all white school to attend there. The Supreme Court mandated that all public schools be desegregated. This caused a lot of violence and the national guard had to be brought out. Dwight D. Eisenhower had troops escort them into class on the first full day on September 25th. -
Feb 1960 N.C Sit in by 4 black students
At a lunch counter in Greensboro North Carolina 4 young black men decided to hold a non- violent protest. in which they were berated and humiliated and arrested. This had an immediate impact forcing restaurants to changetheir segregation. -
Freedom Riders
The freedom riders were a group of 13 African Americans on May 1961. They took the bus trips through the deep south to protest integrated bus terminals. The Freedom Riders tried to use all white bathrooms and sit at lunch counters. These people had to go through tremendous violence from people who did not like their cause. -
1962 James Meredith
During September 1962 a young African American man tried to enroll in the University of Mississippi. This caused chaos as rioting broke out on the campus. Many people were injured and Kennedy had to call out the National Guard. -
1963 Letters from Birmingham jail
On Good Friday of 1963 Martin Luther King was arrested and thrown in a Birmingham jail. While King was thrown in jail he was unable to contact a lawyer or his wife. A friend of his smuggled in a newspaper from religious leaders criticizing King's actions. Without any notes King wrote letters defending his nonviolent actions. -
1963 University of Alabama
An Alabama Governor in 1963 refused to let in two African Americans. He was using a blockade and eventually gave up after facing the National Guard. The Alabama Governor was George Wallace a highly controversial racist. -
I have a Dream Speech
In Washington D.C. 1963 Martin Luther King led a big March on Washington. King gave a speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. King gave a powerful speech in which he stated " I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice"."I have a dream that my four little children will one day not be judged by their skin color, but character. -
Birmingham Bombing
On September 15th 1963 a bomb went off at 16th Street Baptist church before Sunday morning services.The place served as a meeting place for black Civil Rights leaders.four young girls were killed. Many people were injured and caused outrage and disgust. It helped shed a light on the Civil Rights movement. -
1964 Freedom Summer
The Freedom Summer aimed at dramatically increasing voter registration in Mississippi. Trying to get as many blacks to vote because in the past there votes have been suppressed. Many groups came to support this. -
1964 Civil Rights act
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was signed into law by Lyndon Johnson, but it was first proposed by John F. Kennedy. The law ended segregation in schools the workplace and other places. Also, banned discrimination against race, religion, or sex. -
1965 Selma to Montgomery
Martin Luther King in order to register more black voters. So they Marched all the way from Selma to the State capital of Montgomery. There was lots of violence on the march and where meet with violent resistance. But where escorted by the National Guard and finished there March. -
Watts Riots
in an all black neighborhood Watts in Los Angles racial tensions hit a breaking point. it started after a black motorist was suspected of driving drunk from two white officers. A crowd started to gather and people grew angry. The angry black crowd started rioting and looting stores, eventually the national guard stooped everybody but a lot o people were injured -
Executive order 11246
Executive Order 11246, signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson on September 24, 1965, established requirements for non-discriminatory practices in hiring and employment on the part of U.S. government contractors. -
1966 Black Panters
Was an all black pride group that wore all black. And protested racial inequalities they started in 1966. There original intention was to patrol African American neighborhoods for violence. The group eventually turned into a Marxist Radical group calling to arm African Americans. Also, demanding pay to African Americans for years of oppression and realizing them from prison. -
MLK
The Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, delivers a speech entitled “Beyond Vietnam” in front of 3,000 people at Riverside Church in New York City. In it, he says that there is a common link forming between the civil rights and peace movements. -
1967 Detroit Race Riots
The Detroit Race riots of 1967 were one of the most violent and destructive riots in history. It came as a response to police brutality. and racial discrimination. It lasted 3 days and needed the National Guard and the Airborne Division -
1968 Civil Rights Act
The Civil Rights Act was known as the fair housing act and it prevented the discrimination of blacks from buying a house or other financing options. Was a great Civil Rights Bill and was known for passing a few days for MLK died.
