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Plessy v. Ferguson
Ruled that separation of races was legal in public accommodations. -
NAACP Founded
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was founded to promote full racial equality. -
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka
The father of eight-year-old Linda Brown charged the board of education of Topeka, Kansas for denying her admission to an all-white elementary school four blocks from their house. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
A bus driver ordered Rosa Parks and three other African Americans to empty their row in the "colored" section so that a white man could sit down and not be next to African Americans. Rosa Parks refused to move, and was arrested. -
Little Rock School Integration
Arkansas Governor, Orval Faubus, ordered the National Guard to turn away nine African American students who had volunteered to integrate Central High School in Little Rock as part of Superintendent Virgil Blossom's plan. A federal judge then ordered Faubus to let the students into the school. -
The Sit-Ins
African American protesters sat down at segregated lunch counters and refused to leave until they were served. -
Freedom Rides
Civil rights activists rode on buses through the South to challenge segregation. -
March on Birmingham, Alabama
Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth invited Martin Luther King Jr. and the SCLC to help desegregate Birmingham, Alabama. After days of demonstrations by the group, King and a band of marchers were arrested. -
March on Washington
Veteran organizers, A. Philip Randolph and Bayard Rustin, led Americans on a march to Washington, DC to persuade Congress to pass a bill that guaranteed equal access to all public accommodations and gave the U.S. attorney general the power to file school desegregation suits. When he arrived, he gave his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. -
24th Amendment
Prohibited poll tax in elections for federal officials. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Prohibited discrimination because of race, religion, national origin, and gender. It gave all citizens the right to enter public accommodations. -
Race Riots
African Americans started riots because of the desire for economic equality of opportunity in jobs, housing, and education in over 100 cities across America. -
March from Selma to Montgomery for Voting Rights
MLK and about 600 protesters marched from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama to protest the assassination of SCLC demonstrator, Jimmy Lee Jackson. Two weeks later, 3000 more protesters went to Montgomery with federal protection. The number soon grew to 25,000. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
Eliminated literacy tests that had disqualified voters. Federal examiners could enroll voters who had been denied suffrage by local officials. The percentage of African American voters in the South tripled. -
Black Panther Party Founded
The Black Panther Party was founded by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale to fight police brutality and provide services in the ghetto. Members of this party were inspired by Malcolm X. -
De Jure vs. De Facto Segregation
De jure segregation is by law, and de facto segregation is by practice and custom. De facto segregation intensified when African Americans migrated to Northern cities.
