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During the 1960s
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Brown vs. Board of Education
The U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous ruling that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional in the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education. The case was brought by several African American families and helped to kick off the modern Civil Rights Movement. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
Rosa Parks, a black woman, refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a Montgomery, Alabama, city bus, sparking a boycott of the city's buses by African Americans. The boycott lasted for over a year and helped to desegregate public transportation in the city. -
Little Rock Nine
Nine African American students, known as the Little Rock Nine, attempted to enter Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas, but were met with violent opposition from white protesters and were initially prevented from attending school by Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus. President Eisenhower eventually sent federal troops to ensure the students' safety and enforce desegregation at the school. -
Sit-Ins
African American college students across the South began staging sit-ins at segregated lunch counters and other public spaces to protest segregation and discrimination. One of the most famous sit-ins occurred at a Woolworth's lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, on February 1, 1960. -
Freedom Rides
a group of black and white activists organized Freedom Rides in which they rode interstate buses through the South to challenge segregated bus terminals and other public spaces. The Freedom Riders faced violent attacks from white supremacists, but their efforts eventually led to the desegregation of interstate transportation. -
March on Washington
approximately 250,000 people gathered in Washington, D.C., for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The march culminated in Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, one of the most iconic speeches in American history -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act into law. The law outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin in public accommodations, employment, and education. -
Selma to Montgomery March
Civil rights activists organized a series of marches from Selma, Alabama, to the state capital of Montgomery to protest voting rights discrimination against African Americans. The marches were met with violent opposition from state and local law enforcement, but eventually led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law. The law aimed to overcome legal barriers that prevented African Americans from exercising their right to vote, such as literacy tests and poll taxes. -
Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr
civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. King's death sparked riots and protests across the country, and is often seen as a turning point in the Civil Rights Movement. -
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After the 1960s
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The National Black Political Convention
Delegates created a National Black Political Agenda with stated goals including the election of a proportionate number of black representatives to Congress, community control of schools, national health insurance, and the elimination of capital punishment. The news media fixed on the most controversial debates about the recognition of a Palestinian homeland and the use of busing to integrate schools, but for the most part the convention was united. -
The Federal Court Order to Integrate Boston Schools
US District Court Judge W. Arthur Garrity, Jr. found the city of Boston guilty of unconstitutional and intentional segregation in its schools. The remedy proposed by the court was desegregation; the most controversial aspect of his plan was two-way busing — sending black students into predominantly white schools and white children into predominantly black schools. -
The Bakke Case and the Status of Affirmative Action
local governments and businesses attempted to level the economic playing field through a set of assistance programs for minorities known as Affirmative Action. Although opponents claimed that Affirmative Action gave minorities an unfair advantage, those in favor argued that the strategy reduced the towering advantages of patronage, exclusive experience and economic power that whites had enjoyed for centuries. -
Killing of a colored kid
Ten years ago on 26 February, 17-year-old Trayvon Martin went to buy a bag of Skittles and some iced tea. As he walked to his dad’s fiancée’s home in Sanford, Florida, he was shot dead by the gated community’s neighbourhood watch coordinator. His killer, George Zimmerman, was later acquitted of second-degree murder, sparking the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement. -
Football player protesting
The following month, NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick symbolically took the knee during the national anthem before a game – a silent protest that would be picked up around the world. -
Basketball Players Call Out BLM
Wade said: “The racial profiling has to stop. The shooting to kill mentality has to stop. Not seeing the value of Black and Brown bodies has to stop. But also, the retaliation has to stop. The endless gun violence in places like Chicago, Dallas, not to mention Orlando – it has to stop. Enough. Enough is enough.” -
George Floyd
Black Lives Matter went global after the death of George Floyd was captured on video – with police officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on his neck for more than nine minutes. this brought much needed awareness to the cause -
Nobel Peace Prize
Black Lives Matter was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in January for raising awareness and consciousness of racial injustice. -
killer of George Floyd Found Guilty
In April, Derek Chauvin was found guilty of murdering George Floyd, to cheers outside the court. The family’s lawyer said it marked a turning point in US history. -
Racism in the Workplace
The World Economic Forum's Partnering for Racial Justice in Business is focused on eradicating all strands of systemic racism in the workplace, and is still in motion today