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Brown v. Board of Education
A case in which a young African American girl named Linda Brown was denied admission to her local school due to her race. Her parents with the help of NAACP sued the school board. The case went all the way to the Supreme Court where it was ruled that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional in violation of the 14th amendments equal protection clause. It was declared that, In the field of public education, the doctrine of separate but equals has no place." -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
A woman named Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a public bus. In support of Rosa Parks and to try to fight segregation on public busses, Martin Luther King Jr. was chosen to lead a bus boycott. The boycott lasted for over a year, and instead of taking the busses they organized car pools and walked to work. Finally, the Supreme Court declared that Alabama's laws requiring segregation on busses were unconstitutional. -
Little Rock 9 and the Desegregation of Schools
In Little Rock Arkansas a court order required that 9 African American students should be admitted to a school. The governor, ignoring the ruling, ordered troops from the national guard to prevent the students from entering the school. This defiance was not taken lightly and Eisenhower had a conference with the governor, who then left the school to the angry mob. Eisenhower wasn’t having any of it and sent more troops, who remained till the end of the year. The kids were then able to attend. -
The Sit-In Movement
The Sit-in movement was started by Joseph McNeil, Ezell Blair Jr., David Richmond, and Franklin McCain at the North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College. They planned a sit-in at a whites only lunch counter. Once there they refused to leave until served. Soon the movement spread across the country. Then Ella Baker the executive director of the SCLC urged students to create their own organization, and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) was founded. -
Freedom Riders
Even though segregation in interstate bus services was outlawed, bus travel in the south was still segregated. So, James Farmer asked teams of both whites and African Americans to go south and draw attention to the issue. These teams became the Freedom Riders. When they first arrived in their cities in the south they were met with angry mobs. These mobs popped bus tires, threw rocks, and beat them with pipes, chains, and baseball bats. It compelled new President Kennedy to fix the violence. -
James Meredith and the Desegregation of Southern Universities
James Meredith was an African American Air Force veteran who wanted to transfer to the University of Mississippi. Meredith had a direct court order for his registration to the school, but the university wouldn't comply. Kennedy then dispatched 500 federal marshals to escort Meredith to the campus. They were met with an angry riot who threw things and even shot at them. Kennedy then sent thousands of marshals to stop them. Meredith could then attend the university under federal guard. -
The March on Washington
President Kennedy was trying to push a civil rights bill through Congress. Dr.King, realizing that he would have a hard time, agreed to A. Philip Randolph's plan to march on Washington. More than 200,000 people of all races showed up, gathered peacefully by the Lincoln Memorial, and sang songs and hymns. The march is remembered for its peace and dignity, along with Kings speech. It built momentum for the civil rights bill which was passed soon after despite people trying to slow it down. -
Malcolm X and the Civil Rights Movement
Malcolm X was a symbol of the black power movement. He believed that violence could be used when necessary (black power and black nationalism). He believed that African Americans had to act more militantly and demand equality to receive it. He was a member of the Nation of Islam which preached black nationalism, however, he broke with them, and criticized the organization. Eventually he was shot and killed by one of its members. His influence lead to the creation of the Black Panthers. -
Voter Registration Among Minorities
The civil rights act helped with segregation and discrimination in the work place, but not with voting rights. When the SCLC and SNCC stepped up voter registration efforts their members were attacked, beaten, and some even killed. Another march was then organized called the Selma march. At this march Sheriff Jim Clark had armed dozens of white citizens, terrorized the march, and arrested 2,000 African Americans, including school children.This led to the creation of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. -
Urban Problems and the Black Panthers
Many African Americans in the United States were living in poverty along with other racial problems due to urban race riots. To bring attention to this a group know as the Black Panthers was formed. They were a group of African Americans who preached black power, black nationalism, and economic self-efficiency. They believed that the U.S. needed a revolution, and called for African Americans to arm themselves and prepare to force whites to give them equal rights.