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Plessy V. Ferguson Ruling
This was the failure of the government which helped launch the Civil Rights Movement. In this case, they found that segregation was constitutional, although only if it was done 'equally'. This idea of 'Separate But Equal' allowed heavy white oppression in the South who apparently didn't quite hear that last part. -
Jackie Robinson's First Brooklyn Dodgers' Game
Jackie Robinson was a game-changer in the Movement, even though it wasn't technically part of the movement. Jackie was a model and a representation of someone so equal if not better than his white teammates who was never given the same opportunity. He gave the African Americans of the nation a unifying person to finally root for. -
Brown V Topeka Board of Education Ruling
This landmark court case that partially overturned the previous Plessy case and the doctrine of "Separate But Equal". It unanimously agreed that separate even if equal schools were not constitutional, paving the way for the Little Rock Nine. -
Emmett Till's Death
Emmett Till was a 14 year old boy visiting family in Mississippi. After allegedly flirting with a white woman, he was kidnapped, beaten to disfigurement, and shot. The two men arrested for the crime were acquitted but would later brag about committing the crime. This injustice encouraged people to act. -
The Bus Day After The Montgomery Bus Boycott
On this day, African Americans were finally able to ride buses in any seat they wanted, due to an effort that lasted 381 days of perseverance. Their ability to create economic pressure as well as legal, lead to one of the earlier victories in the Civil Rights Movement. -
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference is formed
The SCLC, originally the SLC, was formed by King and other activists in a way to better organize their protests and make their civil disobedience more effective. It would go on to lead and partake in many of the critical movements of the period. -
The Little Rock Nine's First Full School Day
Thanks to Eisenhower's sending the 101st Airborne Division, the Little Rock Nine, nine black students in Little Rock, Arkansas, were able to attend a full day of integrated school and make it home safely. This was a step in the right direction for integrated schools. -
The Greensboro Sit-in
Four colored college students sat at a segregated lunch counter and asked to be served, causing them to be arrested when they refused to leave. They did this everyday for six months, inspiring protests around the nation, until they were served a meal. -
Ruby Bridges' First Day Of Integrated School
Ruby Bridges was the first African American to attend an all-white elementary school in the South. At the age of 6 and marched in between armed federal marshals, she bravely walked through death threats, separation, and angry mobs for her education. -
Anniston Bus Bombing
This display of violence proved the local government's resistance to do its just to protect its people. In the attempt of Freedom Rides, a bus of interracial passengers testing a Supreme Court decision were attacked, beating and bombing the bus and then beating the passengers. Local enforcement purposely failed to protect them. -
James Meredith enters the University of Mississippi
James Meredith, a very capable young man was denied from his college of choice because of his race. After winning his Supreme Court case, he is still blocked and rioted against. Eventually with the help of 500, U.S. Marshals, Meredith is enrolled in Ole Miss, integrating colleges and tertiary education. -
MLK Writes "Letter From A Birmingham Jail"
Martin Luther King Jr. wrote this as a response to critics from white clergyman, telling him not to do public protests and to fight injustice only in courts of law. His inscribed beliefs that it is one's moral duty to practice civil disobedience in the face of injustice inspired millions. -
The March on Washington
Over a quarter of a million people showed their support for JFK's civil rights bill by marching to the Lincoln Memorial. Although this march did little to sway the federal votes, it inspired the people, especially with MLK's famous "I Have A Dream" speech. -
Lyndon Johnson's "We Shall Overcome" Speech
In reaction to the events of Bloody Sunday in Selma, Alabama, President Lyndon B. Johnson gave a speech to Congress and the American people, declaring that all must end the legacy of injustice and bigotry. With this, he announced his legislation, the Voting Act of 1965, which changed America and its power structure forever. -
The Kerner Commission Report
After violent riots across the country, and especially in big cities like Detroit, occurred, President Johnson created a Commission to find the cause. The commission found that these riots were a cause of racial oppression and that encouraging equal measures would solve them, although their advice was widely ignored.