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Plessy v. Ferguson
Homer Plessy sat in an all white car of a train after Louisiana passed a law requiring separate cars for white and black people. Plessy refused to move, arguing that his constitutional rights were being violated. Judge Ferguson upheld the state law and the court decided that the state law did not conflict with the 13th or 14th amendment. Plessy was then arrested.
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Greensboro Sit-In
Four college students arranged a sit-in at a restaurant in Greensboro. They sat at the counter, in which only whites were to be served, and refused to give up their seats. The owner called the police, but no action could be made so the students sat there until closing. The next day more college students joined across the nation after watching the news coverage.Eventually, the restaurant integrated.Although many protesters were arrested, this brought a powerful message.
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Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)
CORE was founded by an interracial group of students out of Chicago. These students were inspired by Ghandi's nonviolent teachings to which they began protests against segregation by organizing sit-ins. These protests were successful in many aspects, including integrating public facilities in the north. Many of the organized protests had negative outcomes, but many positives came as well do to grabbing national attention.
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Jackie Robinson
In 1944, Robinson was arrested for refusing to give up his seat and move to the back of the bus. His notable character got him off the hook, but for years to come, he actively spoke out against discrimination. Facing many challenges, Robinson showed courage during his time on an all-white baseball team, leading to the integration of both baseball leagues. In July of 1949, he tested discrimination by confronting the HUAC and even called the Yankees out for not integrating.
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Sweatt vs Painter
Heman Sweatt applied to the UT Law School in 1946 and was denied solely based on his race. He filed a lawsuit in which the court lengthened the trial in attempts to build a law school for African Americans. Sweatt refused to attend and continued with the lawsuit by taking it up with the Supreme Court. The court unanimously pleaded for Sweatt reasoning that he should be provided an equal opportunity to learn.
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Brown vs Board of Education
Made up of five separate cases, the cases challenged the constitutionality of segregated public school systems. District courts ruled in favor of the board of education, thus the plaintiffs went to the US Supreme Court. Thurgood Marshall spoke on behalf of the plaintiffs, arguing that the segregation was unconstitutional as it went against the fourteenth amendment. After long discussions, the court finally agreed that the separation was unconstitutional.
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"The Southern Manifesto"
This was also known as "A Declaration of Constitutional Principles". In here, many southerners argued against the Brown vs Board of Education decision, agreeing that it was an abuse to the judiciary power. Many argued in agreement that schools were not mentioned in the constitution and challenged the desegregation of public schools.
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Montgomery Bus Boycott
The boycott arose on the day of Rosa Parks' hearing after she was arrested for refusing to give up her seat. African American leaders created the MIA to organize their demands of fair treatment and hiring of black drivers. They decided to continue until the court met these demands. The Montgomery federal court ruled that it violated the 14th amendment of racial segregation on buses. The city appealed to the US Supreme Court, which upheld the decision of the lower court.
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Southern Christian Leadership Conference
The SCLC was founded by pastors, most notably Martin Luther Kind, and prompted nonviolent action against racial segregation. They led many marches and protests after the bus boycott. Also, the leaders wanted to directly communicate with the white population instead of courts so they began rallying together many events that involved the public. At a peaceful protest, the SCLC gained sympathy support from the nation after police used violence against the protesters.
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Little Rock: Central High School
Nine African American students enrolled at an all-white high school called Central High School after the decision of desegregating public schools. The Governor of Arkansas publicly disagreed with the enrollment of these students, so he sent the National Guard to barricade the doors. This stopped the students' entries into the schools until a few weeks later when President Eisenhower sent troops to escort the students. This group became known as "Little Rock Nine".
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Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
SNCC was founded by students a few months after the Greensboro sit-in. It was founded to coordinate the sit-ins that grew nationally, as college students from all areas of America began holding their own. It also supported the leaders and publicized events to allow people to become aware. Throughout their time, SNCC struggled with white oppression, however, many prominent black leaders known today.
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"Freedom Rides"
Seven African Americans and six whites rode of two public buses to Mississippi as a way a testing the bus segregation policy. They faced minor hostility for about a week, but once they reached Alabama, it turned around. One of the buses was burnt and many faced extreme brutality. CORE decided that allowing the brutality to stop them would be a bad pictured, so they continued onward. In November, the ICC prohibited segregation of transportation services.
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James Meredith
Meredith applied to an all-white University and when we arrived to register for classes, the doors were blockaded. People started to riot and 500 U.S. Marshals arrived. There were military police and border patrol people to help keep peace. James Meredith eventually registered and on October 1,1962 he became the first black student to enroll at the University of Mississippi. The next year, Meredith graduated with a political science degree. [http://bit.ly/1kM5U5i] -
Letter from Birmingham Jail
This letter was written by Martin Luther King Jr. while he was in Birmingham city jail. He was stating that we we upset with their criticism and he wants to address these concerns. He said he came to Birmingham to battle injustice and he felt compelled to work anywhere that injustice was at. He expressed in detail that we wanted to organize a nonviolent action. King wanted to justify his actions of protesting because that is the only thing that would help. [http://bit.ly/2o8IzRV] -
Medgar Evers
Evers contributed a lot to the civil rights movement and that made him and his family targets. They experienced threats and firebombings of their house. Evers was shot in his driveway and then died less than a hour later. His death sparked an outrage and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 came about. 31 years after Evers' death, the murderer was finally convicted and sentenced to life in prison and eventually died. [http://bit.ly/2iQuaXC] -
March on Washington
The March on Washington group met every year to rethink blacks demands for equality. The black leaders then planned a new March on Washington to make a way for the Civil Rights Act. This new march had more than 200,000 black and white people were there to show their support. On this day, Martin Luther King Jr. said his popular speech of "I Have a Dream" and this was the highlight of the civil rights movement. [http://bit.ly/1i6tu7Z] -
Bombing of Birmingham church
Before a Sunday morning service at the 16th Street Baptist Church, a bomb had exploded. This church was predominantly black and it was a meeting place for civil rights leaders. 200 members were in the building when the bomb went off but many were able to escape but 4 young girls weren't able to and died. 20 people were injured in the blast. Police helped draw attention to the struggle of African Americans during this time. [http://bit.ly/1CwahtD] -
Twenty-fourth Amendment
This amendment gave right to citizens to vote in any primary or other election. This also prohibited any poll tax in elections for federal officials. Now people that didn't have enough money can vote because there is no tax. Johnson said, "There can be no one too poor to vote." All U.S. citizens have the right to freely cast their votes in our elections today without any tax or cost added to it. [http://bit.ly/2ofNksp] -
Mississippi Freedom Summer
Black Mississippians and many others faced constant harassment from white Mississippians. This registration drive aimed to increase voter registration in Mississippi. June 15, the first 300 arrived. The next day 2 white students disappeared and were they were found murdered 6 weeks later. These deepened the division between people who believed in nonviolence and those in favor of it. After 1964, it began to lose hope. [http://bit.ly/1jCdm18] -
Civil Rights Act passed
After Kennedy was assassinated, Johnson immediately picked up took up the cause of civil rights. This went through the House and eventually moved onto the Senate. Once the bill reached the senate, the southern and bordering states, Democrats staged a 75-day filibuster. After breaking this filibuster, the Senate voted in favor of the bill and Johnson signed it into law of July 2nd. [http://bit.ly/1udSFsU] -
Malcolm X assassinated
Malcolm X had transferred to Islam after being in prison for a couple years.He preached the message of black Muslims all around the world, believing that blacks were superior to whites. Malcolm started to cause trouble for himself and was kicked out of the organization, everyone hated him at this point. On February 21, he was shot by assassins identified as Black Muslims as he was about to give a speech. [http://nyti.ms/2picRyD] -
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Selma to Montgomery march
Martin Luther King Jr's SCLC made Selma, Alabama the focus to register black voters in the South. The march was from Selma to the state capital of Montgomery, and this took them 3 days to finally reach their goal. This greatly helped raise awareness for black voters in the South, and the need for a Voting Rights Act. They reached Montgomery on March 25 and met 50,000 supporters, white and black.
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Voting Rights Act approved
This bill was passed in the Senate on May 26, 1965. This was debated for over a month and then the House of Representatives passed on July 9. Johnson signed the act into law with all the civil rights leaders present. This act banned literacy tests, provided for federal oversight of voter registration areas, and authorized the U.S. attorney to investigate poll taxes in state and local elections. [http://bit.ly/1x2nE2e] -
Black Panther Party
In Oakland California, Huey Newton and Bobby Seale founded this party. They practiced militant self-defense against the U.S. government, and fought to establish socialism through community based organizations. This party was one of the firsts to militantly struggle for ethnic minority, in U.S. history. This party was rooted from Malcolm X, whom was trying to fight for equality but later was assassinated. [http://bit.ly/1UsJ13V] -
King assassinated
James Earl Ray fired a single shot from over 200 ft. and shot King in the neck at a hotel in Memphis, Tennessee. King died an hour later at St. Joseph's Hospital. This sparked rage and riots begun erupting everywhere. Ray was placed on the Ten Most Wanted Fugitives List and he fled to Canada, England, Lisbon, and Portugal. He was finally caught at Heathrow Airport on June 8. Ray was finally sentenced to 99 years in prison. [http://bit.ly/1mPlxIF]
