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Executive Order 8802
This order, passed by FDR, stated that it was apparent that citizens were being denied positions in the military because of their race. The order then stated that the military should take special care to ensure that this doesn't happen and that race isn't taken as a factor to being hired in the military. This was an important act made by the president because it desegregated the military and allowed African Americans to serve their country. -
Jackie Robinson
In 1947, Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier for baseball when he was called to play for the Brooklyn Dodgers. In his first season, he won the rookie of the year award. When Robinson was offered the position on the Dodgers, the general manager, Branch Rickey, insisted that he would have to not respond to the abuse that he would face. Robinson agreed to this. The way he faced persecution courageously inspired the Civil Rights movement all over the country. -
Brown vs Board of Education
In 1954, a man named Oliver Brown went to court because his daughter, Linda Brown, was denied access into an all white school. Brown claimed that this was unconstitutional and against the 14th amendment, which says that the state cannot deny any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of laws. This case came before the U.S. District Court in Kansas and it was decided that the term 'separate but equal' should have no place in the education system. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
In Alabama in 1955, African Americans were still required to sit in the back half of the bus. This caused a lot of Civil Rights activists to boycott these busses and sit in the front. A famous example of this is Rosa Parks. She was sitting in the front row of the back section, like required, but was told to move when the front section filled up. Rosa Parks refused to move. She was arrested and fined. Several more events such as this happened during this time. -
Little Rock Nine (continued)
Little Rock Nine, was beaten by other students on several occasions, had acid thrown in her face, and at one point, students created an African-American effigy and burned it in a nearby parking lot. Another one of the nine, Gloria Ray, was pushed down a flight of stairs. It wasn't only the students facing this oppression either. Gloria Ray's mother was fired from her job because she refused to take her daughter out of school. In the end, several of them ended up having successful careers. -
Little Rock Nine
After the Brown vs. Board of Education trial, segregation in schools was eradicated. This was tested by a group of nine high school students who would go to Little Rock High School. This was a big issue at the time. The governor even sent some Arkansas National Guard to block the path of the students, but President Eisenhower sent federal troops to escort the students to school. The bullying and oppression faced by the Little Rock Nine was unbelievable. Melba Patillo, one of the... -
Civil Rights Act of 1957
One step that the government took to help Civil Rights Activists was passing the Civil Rights Act of 1957. President Dwight D. Eisenhower passed this act to provide more protection for voting rights. It also created a six-member U.S. Civil Rights Commission to investigate infringements on voter rights. Although the protection it provided to African American voters was very significant, this act most importantly showed the importance the government put on the Civil Rights Movement. -
Greensboro Sit-in
In 1960, a group of Civil Rights Activists protested against white only restaurants by sitting at the lunch counters and not giving up their seats. The first people to protest by doing this were four college students from the North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College. The spur to action for these students was the brutal murder of Emmet Till for whistling at a white woman in 1955. This sit-in spurred other people to action also. Eventually, this movement spread to 55 cities in 13 states. -
March on Washington
In 1963, there were many violent events taking place toward Civil Rights activists. These events set the stage for another mass protest. A. Philip Randolph had been planning a march for jobs and Martin Luther King Jr. had been planning a march for freedom, so they decided to merge their efforts. President Kennedy supported this march, although he did so reluctantly since he thought it would most likely end in violence. Although this march had many speakers, the most famous speach here was... -
George Wallace at the University of Alabama
Governor George C. Wallace of Alabama stood in the doorway of the University of Alabama to keep African-American students from enrolling in the college. These students, specifically, were Vivian Malone and James A. Hood. When Wallace refused to move, President Kennedy called 100 troops from the Alabama national guard to help the students enter. Wallace then chose to stand down. -
March on Washington (continued)
the "I Have a Dream" speech. This speech was originally intended to be 4 minutes long, but it went on for 16 minutes. Surprisingly, "I Have a Dream" wasn't even intended to be included in the speech. When he started talking about his dream for America, his speech totally went away from his notes and became one of the most influential speeches in history. Overall, he called America to treat everyone as brothers, regardless of race. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 ended all segregation of public places and prevented employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, gender, etc. The act was first proposed by Kennedy, but was signed into order by Lyndon B. Johnson. One major supporter of this act was Martin Luther King Jr. He claimed that this act was nothing less than a "second emancipation". -
Bloody Sunday
In Marion, Alabama, there were several Civil Rights protestors that were peacefully protesting for their rights when state troopers started violently beating them and arresting them. The violence even got so far that Jimmie Lee Jackson was fatally shot while trying to protect his mother, who was being beaten by the police. This was definitely one of the most violent protests of all the Civil Rights Movement, but activists everywhere planned more protests in response to this event. -
Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Congressman John Conyers was the first to suggest a Martin Luther King Jr. Day. He suggested it 4 days after King was assassinated. The bill became stalled for a long time, but there were petitions that endorsed the holiday containing 6 million names. The day finally became a holiday in 1983, when Ronald Reagan signed it. Many states resisted this holiday, saying that they wanted a holiday for the whole Civil Rights Movement, but all of the states accepted the holiday eventually. -
The Million Man March
A gathering of African American people in Washington D.C. brought over 400,000 people to the Mall. Their goal was to "show a vastly different picture of the black man in America" according to the organizers of the march. One person who went to this march was B.T. Washington. He had just retired from a 30 year career in the air force and went to the march with his brother for the experience. At the march, he claimed that he found a sense of unity and purpose. -
Greensboro Four Monument
In Greensboro, a statue was made of the Greensboro Four. Their names are printed on the statue: David Richmond, Franklin McCain, Ezell Blair Jr., and Joseph McNeil. This monument was built to honor the Greensboro Four and their role in the Civil Rights Movement. Their decision to sit at a lunch counter sparked a movement that changed civil rights forever. -
Rosa Parks Influence and Statue
After Rosa Parks was arrested for not getting out of her seat, she became an icon for the Civil Rights Movement. She became the secretary of U.S. Representative John Conyers. Once she retired, she co-founded the Rosa L. Parks Scholarship Foundation and the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self-Development. She also published an autobiography in 1992. Since she was such an icon in the Civil Rights Movement, she was honored with a Congressional Gold Medal (1999) and a statue (2005). -
Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial
Martin Luther King Jr. was one of the most famous and influential people of the Civil Rights Movement. America recognized this and built a monument for him. It is located at 1964 Independence Avenue, S.W. This is a reference to the year that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was signed. The memorial is a big statue of Martin Luther King Jr. It continues to remind citizens of his legacy today. -
Barack Obama Elected President
On November 4, 2008, Barack Obama was elected as the first African American President of the United States. Obama did many things throughout his presidency. He passed a new health care reform, responded to the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill in 2010, continued to face the war on terrorism in Afghanistan and Iraq, and several other things. He did many things in his presidency, but his election shows how far America has come since the 1960's. -
Statistics
America has come very far since the 1940s - 1960s. 60% of employed African American women worked as domestic servants in 1940, but that number has dramatically changed and now it is only 2.2%, while 60% have white-collar jobs. Also, in 1958, the percentage of white citizens that said they would move if they had an African American neighbor was 44%, now it is only 1%. Many of these changes are direct results of the Civil Rights Movement. -
Sources more
https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/jackie-robinson
https://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/press-past/2013/06/11/george-wallace-stood-in-a-doorway-at-the-university-of-alabama-50-years-ago-today
https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/march-on-washington
https://www.history.com/news/selmas-bloody-sunday-50-years-ago
https://www.aoc.gov/art/other-statues/rosa-parks
https://docsouth.unc.edu/commland/monument/24/
https://blacklivesmatter.com/ -
even more sources
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2016/09/26/the-million-man-march-changed-history-and-it-transformed-this-fathers-life/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.eb6ce148ca19
https://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/barack-obama-elected-president-video
https://www.nps.gov/mlkm/learn/building-the-memorial.htm
https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/civil-rights-act -
Black Lives Matter
Although the Civil Rights Movement gave many more rights to African Americans, there are still activists today fighting for equality. One example of this is the Black Lives Matter Movement. Their mission is to build local power and to intervene in violence inflicted on black communities by the state and other citizens. This is an issue that is overlooked by many citizens, but is still inflicting African American communities everywhere. -
Minnijean Brown-Trickey
Minnijean Brown was one of the Little Rock Nine. She faced tons of persecution, but went on to become an activist for minority rights. She studied social work at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario. She even got involved with First Nations activism. Her daughter, Spirit Trickey, is employed at the Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site, where she can share stories about the persecution that her mother and the other eight went through at Little Rock High School. -
Gloria Ray
Gloria Ray was one of the Little Rock Nine. After her 1957-1958 year, she went to school in Kansas City, Missouri, since all of the schools in Little Rock had been shut down. Gloria Ray eventually received a bachelor's degree in chemistry and math from the Illinois Institute of Technology. She's had several jobs as a systems analyst, technical writer, and patent attorney for IBM's Nordic Laboratory in Stockholm, Sweden, Philips Telecommunications in Hilversum, and Philips Lighting in Eindhoven. -
Sources
https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/brown-v-board-of-education-of-topeka
https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/montgomery-bus-boycott
https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/central-high-school-integration
https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/rosa-parks
http://crdl.usg.edu/events/civil_rights_act_1957/?Welcome&Welcome
https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/the-greensboro-sit-in
https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/history/35th/thelaw/eo-8802.html -
sources even more
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/black-progress-how-far-weve-come-and-how-far-we-have-to-go/
https://www.thelavinagency.com/speakers/minnijean-brown-trickey
https://ualr.edu/race-ethnicity/gloria-ray-karlmark-the-little-rock-nine/
https://www.infoplease.com/calendar-holidays/major-holidays/history-martin-luther-king-day
