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Brown v. Board of Education
Supreme Court ruled that separating children in public schools on the basis of race was unconstitutional. It signaled the end of legalized racial segregation in the schools of the U.S., overruling the "separate bu equal" principle set forth in the 1895 Plessy v. Ferguson case. -
Murder of Emmett Till
- 14 year old boy from Chicago, visiting family.
- Accused of whistling at a white woman.
- Roy Bry & J.E. Milann, kidnapped, beat, shot, killed, & then threw Emmett's body in the river.
- Maime Till, Emmett's mother, had an open casket funeral.
- Both men stood trial, & found not guilty.
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Rosa Parks & the Montgomery Bus Boycott
- Rosa Parks refused to move seats & she is later then arrested.
- Bus boycott later begins and last 381 days.
- Martin Luther King emerges as the leader of the bus boycott 1st large scale demonstration non violent in the U.S.
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Founding of Southern Christian Leadership Conference & Martin Luther King
- Started after the bus boycott to organize protest
- MLK was elected as President of it.
- Organized protest around the south to coordinate events, such as: Greensboro sit ins, March on Washington & Selma.
- After MLK's assassination it declines.
- This still exists today.
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Little Rock Nine & Central High School
- Testing Brown v. Board of Education decision.
- Nine students were vetted to undergo this test.
- Airborne escorted students to class.
- Following year all Public Schools closed in 1958.
- Aug 29th, 1959 - schools reopened.
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Greensboro, North Carolina
- 4 college students sat down at a lunch counter at Woolworth's to be served. They were refused service, continued to "sit-in" and others joined, the protest spread to other towns & forced change.
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Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee & Freedom Summer
Youth group of students remained fiercely independent of MLK & SCLC, generating their own projects & strategies. The two organizations worked side by side throughout the early years of the civil rights movement. This group was the second half of the Freedom riders & were a part of the March to Selma. -
Freedom Ride/Freedom Riders
2 weeks bus trip to the Deep South, to deliberately violate Jim Crow Laws. It was organized by CORE. The buses were burned & riders beaten by the KKK. November 1st, 1961 - white & colored sings are removed from the bus stations & lunch counters. -
March on Washington
For jobs and freedom. Was to advocate for the civil & economic rights of African Americans. 250,000 people were in attendance at the Lincoln Memorial. MLK was the last to speak, & gave his "I Have A Dream Speech" 70-80% of Marchers were black. Ended up heating pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
- Can NOT be refused service Forbids employers & labor unions to discriminate against any person or grounds of race, color, religion, sex, physical disability or age in job related matters.
- Prohibits discrimination against race, color, religion, national origin, or physical disability.
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Selma to Montgomery Marches (Bloody Sunday)
600 students March from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama to get the right to vote. They wales 54 miles & were stopped at the bridge. Seen on national television. LBJ order the passage of 1964 voting right law. March 2nd took place March 21-24 days with 25,000 Marchers including MLK. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
Prohibited states from imposing qualifications or practices to deny the right to vote on account of race. It permitted direct federal intervention in the electoral process in certain places, based on "coverage formula"; and required preclearance of new laws.