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Plessy v Ferguson
U.S. supreme court case that ruled segregation was to be legal. "Separate but equal" is a well known term to sum up this case because it resulted in separate facilities for the races but that they were still supposed to be equal. -
NAACP
The NAACP ( National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) was founded in 1909. The organizations main goal was to make sure that there was equality of rights of all people and to eliminate racial discrimination and segregation. -
Brown v Board of Education of Topeka
Thurgood Marshall was an expert in law and devoted his life to fighting racism and the NAACP. In his most successful case Brown v Board of Education, a girl named Linda Brown's father( who were both black) charged the Board of Education with violating her rights to go to an all white elementary school 4 blocks from her house. The closest black one was 21 blocks away. It resulted in a win, and segregation was struck down in schooling and declared unconstitutional. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
Rosa parks was a NAACP officer that sat down in the "colored" part of the bus and refused to move and got arrested. News spread quickly and a boycott was organized lead by Martin Luther King Jr. African Americans filed a lawsuit and for 381 days they refused to ride the buses in Montgomery; nonviolent protesting. Many walked the streets for almost a year. This protest ultimately resulted in the Supreme Court outlawing bus segregation. -
Martin Luther King and other Important Figures in Civil Rights
Martin Luther King, a civil rights activist, came to be known around 1955 during the Montgomery Bus Boycott and was the head of the SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference). He took inspiration from writer Henry David Thoreau and his concept of civil disobedience. From labor organizer Randolph he learned to organize massive demonstrations. Also, from Indian activist Gandhi, he learned to resist oppression without violence. -
Emmett Till
Emmett Till was a 14-year old African-American boy who was visiting relatives in Mississippi in 1955 when he went into a local grocery store and was accused of offending a white woman. Several nights after the incident, the woman's husband and his half brother went to Till's great uncle's house and took the boy. They took him away, beat him, shot him in the head, and then sunk him in the Tallahatchie River. Some say this incident sparked the Civil Rights movement. -
Little Rock School Integration
Even though segregation in schools was now illegal, Governor Faubus ordered the National guard to prevent African American students from going to Central High School (all white school in Arkansas). After talking with Eisenhower, Faubus withdrew the troops from little rock and 9 black kids were enrolled. A full out riot then happened but there was little help so Faubus turned to Eisenhower. The situation eventually got under control and no further violent disturbances were made against the kids. -
The Sit-Ins
African Americans protested discrimination by sitting down in segregated places (such as lunch counters) and refusing to leave until they were served. By late 1960, lunch counters in some 48 cities and 11 states had desegregated lunch counters. -
Race Riots
In the 1960's, Clashes between white authority and black civilians spread like wildfire. These became known as race riots. -
Malcolm X
Throughout the 1960's, Malcolm X really became a prominent figure in Civil Rights. He was a human rights activist and a public voice of the Black Muslim faith. He believed in urging followers to defend themselves against white aggression "by any means necessary" even if that meant violence, which was contrary to Martin Luther King's teachings of non-violence. He was shot and killed in 1965 while he was giving a speech in Harlem. -
Freedom Rides
Freedom Rides were bus trips through the American South in 1961 to protest segregated bus terminals. Freedom Riders were people who hoped to provoke a violent reaction that would convince the Kennedy administration to enforce the law of banning segregation of buses. Ultimately, freedom rides resulted in the banning of segregation in all interstate travel facilities, including waiting rooms, restrooms, and lunch counters. -
March on Washington
Randolph and Rustin of the SCLC wanted to pass a bill that would give equal access to all public accommodations and give the attorney general the power to file school desegregation suits, so they summoned Americans to march on Washington D.C. 250,000 people came to march where they first went to the Washington Monument and then to the Lincoln Memorial where people listened to speakers. King showed up and shocked citizens with awe and delivered his famous and historic "I Have a Dream" speech. -
March on Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham, Alabama had a history of strict segregation and racial violence. King and a small band of marchers were arrested for trying to desegregate the city. On May 2, more than 1,000 African-American children marched in Birmingham. Of those children, 959 of them were arrested. The next day the same march happened but this time police set attack dogs on them and used high pressure fire hoses. Bad media and protests eventually convinced Birmingham officials to end segregation in the city. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
This act prohibited discrimination because of race, religion, national origin, and gender. It gave all citizens the right to enter libraries, bathrooms, restaurants, theaters, and other public places. -
24th amendment
Citizens used to have to pay a fee to vote. After the 24th amendment was passed, the constitution of the United States of America abolished the poll tax for all federal elections. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 eliminated the literacy tests that had disqualified many voters. Also, it stated that federal examiners could enroll voters who had been denied the right to vote by local officials. The overall percentage of registered African-American voters in the south tripled. This act marked a major civil rights victory. -
March form Selma to Montgomery for voting rights
By the end of 1965, more than 2,000 African Americans had been arrested in SCLC demonstrations. After a demonstrator was shot and killed, King organized a 50-mile protest from Selma to Montgomery. Mayhem broke out and it was captured on TV. Police swung whips and clubs, and set off clouds of tear gas. Demonstrators poured into Selma by the hundreds. Ten days later, President Johnson presented congress with a new voting rights act. -
De jure vs. De facto segregation
De jure segregation was segregation by law. On the other hand, De facto segregation was segregation that exists by practice and custom. It was harder to fight than de jure segregation because getting rid of it required changing people's attitudes rather than repealing laws. -
Black Panther Party
The party's purpose was to protect African American neighborhoods and residents from acts of police brutality.
