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Plessy v Ferguson
Homer Plessy a Creole of Color man sat in the "white" car instead of the Jim Crow car. He was then thrown in jail, and brought before Judge John H. Ferguson. Plessy's lawyer stated that the Separate Car Act violated the 13th and 14th Amendments. The Court ruled a 7-1 vote, and that the law did not conflict with the 13th Amendment. They also avoided the discussion of the clause in the 14th Amendment.
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Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)
A group of students in Chicago founded this group. Students were Bernice Fisher, James R. Robinson, James L. Farmer Jr., Joe Guinn, George Houser, and Homer Jack. They were mostly members of the Fellowship of Reconciliation. They began protests against segregation (sit-ins). The organization was a non-hierarchical decentralized organization. They also experienced tension between local control, and national leadership.
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Jackie Robinson
Jackie Robinson was born January 31st, 1919 in Cairo, Georgia. He was the first colored person to join a Major League Team. He signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, and was also named Rookie of the Year. In 1949 he was the National League MVP. A few years later he brought the Dodgers to the World Series in 1955, and won. He retired two years after in 1957, and his batting average was 0.311.
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Sweatt v Painter
Herman Marion Sweatt applied for admission to the University of Texas Law School; which only granted admission to whites. His application was rejected automatically. The Court held the Equal Protection Clause which allowed Sweatt to be admitted to the school. They also stated that the "law school for Negroes" would have given unequal education than if he were to study at Texas Law School.
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Brown v Board of Education
Consolidation of four similar cases; which African American minors were denied admittance to public schools based on their race. The case argued that the segregation violated the Equal Protection Clause. They were then denied relief based off Plessy v Ferguson; which stated "separate but equal." The Supreme Court of Delaware ruled that African American students were allowed into the white only schools.
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Montgomery Bus Boycott
An African American female Rosa Parks refused to give her seat to a white man on a bus. She was then arrested. The boycott started the day Park was in court, and it lasted 381 days. It was one of the largest demonstrations against segregation in the U.S. The leader of the boycott was a young pastor named Martin Luther King Jr.
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"The Southern Manifesto"
Howard Smith of Virginia introduced the Southern Manifesto. This was introduced during a speech on the House Floor. The Southern Manifesto was signed by 82 representatives and 19 senators. It was declared a moment of southern defiance against the Supreme Courts ruling in Brown v Board. This also urged the southerners to resist the chaos and confusion that came with desegregation of schools.
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Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)
Sixty black ministers and civil rights leaders met in Atlanta, Georgia. They had tried to replicate the strategy and tactics used in Montgomery. Martin Luther King Jr. was chosen as the president of the new group. The group had initiated its first campaign in 1961. The lack of planning caused it to fail. They then did the Birmingham campaign; which produced the famous "Letter from a Birmingham Jail." The campaign in Selma then caused the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
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Little Rock - Central High School
Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas was a formerly all-white school. Nine blacked students had enrolled, and planned to go to school on September 4th. Those nine students were Minnijean Brown, Elizabeth Eckford, Ernest Green, Thelma Motheshed, Melba Patillo, Gloria Ray, Terrence Roberts, Jefferson Thomas, and Carlotta Walls. When they had arrived at the school the National Guard was blocking their way in. Ernest Green was the first one of the nine to graduate.
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Greensboro sit-in
Ezell Blair, Jr., Franklin McCain, Joseph McNeil, and David Richmond entered a Woolworth's general merchandise store; which also had a dining area. They sat in the white only section; while African Americans were supposed to stand at the snack bar. They then requested service which they were denied. The following day they brought 20 other students, and they filled all available seats.
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Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)
The SNCC formed to give young African Americans a voice in the civil rights movement. Ella Baker the director of the SCLC helped set up the first SNCC meeting. Her committee was out of touch with the younger blacks, and wanted the movement to make faster progress. The SNCC played a big part in the Freedom Rides, and the marches organized by King. Their leaders were James Forman, Bob Moses, and Marion Barry. They directed a lot of the black voter registration.
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"Freedom Rides"
The Freedom Rides was launched by 13 African American and white civil rights activists. Freedom Rides was a series of bus trips through the South to protest segregation in interstate bus terminals. African Americans tried to use the "whites-only" bathrooms and lunch counters, and vice versa. They encountered violence and drew international attention. The Interstate Commerce Commission created regulations prohibiting segregation in bus and train stations.
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James Meredith
He was born on June 25, 1933 in Kosciusko, Mississippi, and was raised on a farm with 9 other siblings. He continued to join the military after he graduated high school, and spent 9 years in the airforce. He became the first black student to attend the University of Mississippi, and earned a degree in law.
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"Letter from Birmingham Jail"
"While confined here in the Birmingham city jail, I came across your recent statement calling my present activities "unwise and untimely." Seldom do I pause to answer criticism of my work and ideas. If I sought to answer all the criticisms that cross my desk, my secretaries would have little time for anything other than such correspondence in the course of the day, and I would have no time for constructive work..."
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Medgar Evers
Medgar Evers was a civil rights activist. He organized many things such as voter-registration efforts, demonstrations, and boycotts. He served in World War II before working with the NAACP. Evers attempted to segregate the University of Mississippi Law School. He was assassinated in June 1963, and his accused killer Byron De La Beckwith escaped conviction, but later was imprisoned.
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March on Washington
Over 200,000 Americans gathered in Washington, D.C., for a political rally for jobs and freedom. It was designed to shed light on the political and social challenges that African Americans face. Martin Luther King Jr. said his "I Have a Dream" speech; which was a spiritual call for racial justice and equality.
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Bombing of Birmingham Church
A bomb exploded before Sunday morning services at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. The church was mainly black congregation that was a meeting place for civil rights leaders. Four young girls were killed, and others were injured. Protesters and police helped draw national attention to the hard fight, and the struggle for civil rights.
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Twenty-Fourth Amendment
"The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election for President or Vice President for electors for President or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in Congress, shall not be denied or abridges by the United States or any State by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax."
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Mississippi Freedom Summer
The Congress on Racial Equality and Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee organized a voter registration drive. The Freedom Summer dramatically increased the voter registration in Mississippi. It was comprised of black Mississippians and over 1,000 out of state white volunteers. They faced constant abuse and harassment from Mississippi's white population. There were violent attacks, arson, beatings, arrests, and the murder of 3 civil rights activists.
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Civil Rights Act Passed
The Civil RIghts Act ended segregation in public places, and banned employment discrimination based on race, color, sex, and religion. It was first proposed by President John F. Kennedy, and then it was signed into law by Kennedy's successor Lyndon B. Johnson. Congress later expanded the act.
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Malcolm X Assassinated
Malcolm X was an African American nationalist, and a religious leader. He was addressing his Organization of Afro-American Unity at the Audubon Ballroom in Washington Heights, New York. His home was firebombed the week before Nation of Islam members shot him to death at the rally in New York. He was influential in the civil rights movement, and to the leaders of SNCC.
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Selma to Montgomery March
Martin Luther King Jr.'s Southern Christian Leadership Conference made Selma its main focus. Protesters who attempted to march from Selma were met with violent resistance by state, and local authorities. They finally achieved their goal of walking to Montgomery. It raised awareness of the difficulty that African Americans faced.
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Voting Rights Act approved
President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law. It was aimed to overcome all legal barriers that prevented African Americans from voting under the 15th Amendment. It widened the franchise, and was considered one of the major pieces of the civil rights legislation.
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Black Panthers
The original name was the Black Panther Part for Self-Defense. It was an African American revolutionary party founded by Huey Newton, and Bobby Seale. The purpose of the party was to patrol African American neighborhoods to protect residents from police brutality. Later they developed into a Marxist revolutionary group that aimed to release all African Americans from jail. Panther membership exceeded 2,000 people.
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King Assassination
Martin Luther King Jr., had been staying at a motel in Memphis, Tennessee when he was assassinated. He was a baptist minister and the founder of SCLC. King led the civil rights movement since the 1950s, and used nonviolent tactics. He used sit-ins, boycotts, and protest marches. His death caused anger among African Americans, and caused a period of national mourning. King's death sped the way for an equal housing bill. James Earl Ray was King's killer.
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