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Jim Crow Laws
In the southern United states around the 1890's. These laws called the Jim Crow laws which put a mandate on segregation of all races with white people being on top. These laws were passed through the Supreme court and was justified by it being "separate but equal". -
Segregation of Schools in the South
Graph used from Savvas Realize - "Brown v. Board of Education", Graph data by "The Century Foundation; The Civil Rights Project". -
Brown v. Board of Education
On May 17th 1954 Linda Brown challenged the board of education in Topeka Kansas. the supreme court would rule school segregation as unconstitutional. Even though the Supreme court passed laws to stop segregation in schools, they didn't do much to enforce the new laws. Schools in the south opposed the new law and many kept segregation in school. Even though at first these new anti-segregation laws were not heavily enforced it was a huge step for the civil rights movement. -
Murder of Emmet Till
Emmett Till was a 14 year old boy in the 1950's. Emmett had been looking around stores with his cousins, when apparently he whistled at a young lady working at one of the stores. Her husband Roy Bryant would kidnap, beat, and murder Emmett Till over whistling at a white women. Events like the murder of Emmett Till would bring nation-wide attention to some of the racial prejudice going on and how bad it really was. The murder of Emmett Till would help drive the Civil Rights movement even further. -
Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks was a civil rights activist. Rosa Parks is known for making one of the first steps towards ending racial segregation by sitting at the front on a public bus and refusing to move when colored people were supposed to sit in the back. Rosa Parks would be arrested for this and would cause an outrage of Civil Rights activists who would protest by boycotting public transport for over a year. Rosa Parks would be a very important leader in the Civil Rights movement. -
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Montgomery Bus Boycott
The Montgomery Bus boycott would happen after the outrage of the arrest of Rosa Parks for not sitting in the "colored section". Over 45,000 colored bus riders refused to take the bus system until something was changed. The city of Montgomery resisted and dealt with the boycott for over a full year, but folded because the Black population made up the majority of Montgomery bus riders. The Montgomery Bus Boycott proved how non-violent protests worked and helped the Civil Rights Movement. -
The Little Rock Nine
Nine teenage African American children would be allowed to attend a previously all white school in the south called Little Rock High School. However before any of the students got to their first day of School the Governor of Arkansas, Faubus would try and stop them by sending the national guard to block the students. Eventually the guard was removed and the Little Rock Nine were allowed to enter the school with armed protection. These students faced bullying by white students and parents. -
Civil Rights Act Signing
President Eisenhower on the 9th of September would sign the Civil Rights act of 1957. this act protected voting rights for African Americans and other races. Anyone who denied someones right to vote could be prosecuted now. The signing of this act also gave more federal aid to the Civil Rights movement. -
Greensboro Sit-ins
The Greensboro sit-ins were non violent protests to promote civil rights. It started when four young black students decided to sit at a segregated lunch counter and refused to move. These sit-ins soon gained traction by media and more and more people participated and some of them were broadcasted on tv of people throwing and beating the non-violent protesters. Over 55 cities and 13 states ended up participating in the sit-ins. -
Ruby Bridges
Ruby Bridges was the first African American student to go to an unsegregated elementary school in the south. Ruby had to be escorted by armed guards to school everyday for her safety as many people in the south still heavily resisted unsegregated schools and preferred the "separate but equal" plan. Ruby would help start the movement to have more African American students in unsegregated schools. -
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Freedom Rides
C.O.R.E (Congress of Racial Equality) wanted to send groups of different kinds of people through the south to see how they react. In Arkansas one of the buses were firebombed and the freedom riders were beat over and over again. C.O.R.E sent multiple buses all over the south. Protection was given by local police in the south but many of the riders often still got beat. -
March on Washington
Over 250,000 people gathered in Washington D.C. by the Lincoln memorial. Martin Luther King Jr. and the SCLC would give inspirational speeches at the march fighting for civil rights and equal opportunity. Here is where MLK made his famous "I Have a Dream Speech". -
Birmingham Alabama Bombing
The KKK an anti black group of people would bomb a baptist church in Birmingham Alabama which would kill four African American girls. This bombing gained attention by many people who were very upset. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 signed by President Lyndon Johnson would stop discrimination based off a persons race, ethnicity, or religion. Also prohibited hiring or firing individuals based off a race. This act also helped enforce desegregation in schools as some schools in the south still refused to desegregate. -
Malcolm X Assassination
Malcolm X was a very popular speaker during the Civil Rights movement. Malcolm was not only African-American but he was also Muslim and certain people from the Muslim community didn't like what Malcolm was doing. Malcolm would receive death threats from Islam and was eventually shot multiple times on stage by three different men while preparing to speak. -
Bloody Sunday
The Selma March (Bloody Sunday) was a way to protest civil rights peacefully. The Selma March took place in Alabama one of the most racist parts of the U.S. at the time. Thousands of people joined the March led my MLK from Selma to Montgomery Alabama. The March started with only about 300 people but grew fast. The March lasted 54 miles. -
Immediate End to Segregation in Schools
Even though schools were Officially unsegregated after the Brown v. Board of Education many southern schools still refused to allow African American students into white schools. However until 1965 even though school segregation was illegal it was very lightly enforced. But on October 29th 1965 the Government would enforce the school segregation law heavily. -
MLK Assassinated
In Memphis while standing on his balcony a sniper would shoot and kill Martin Luther King Jr. Outbreaks of violence and protests would happen after the death of one of the major Civil Rights leaders MLK died. MLK was preparing for a speech and march right before he was assassinated. There is now an official day of mourning on April 7th for Martin Luther. -
President Johnson and the Civil Rights act of 1968
In 1968 President Lyndon Johnson would sign the new Civil Rights Act of 1968, which would enforce and provide equal housing opportunity for any American citizen. This act also made discriminating someone based off of ethnicity, race, color illegal and punishable. -
First Black Women in Space
Mae Jemison was the first black women to go into space. She went to space on the spaceship called the Endeavour. Mae attended Stanford University and graduated at Cornell University. She later joined NASA. Mae Jemison going to space was a huge step towards racial equality and showed how more and more African Americans participated in things that before the 1960's was not allowed for them. -
First Black Women Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice was the first African American lady to be elected Secretary of State. She was elected by George w. Bush. Rice had a major influence on U.S. diplomacy and wanted to redistribute diplomats to new areas that had political and social troubles. -
Barrack Obama is Elected President
Barrack Obama was the 44th president to be elected in the United States. Obama is the only president in U.S. history to be of African American descent. Obama being elected was one of the largest recent events in the Civil Rights movement as it proved how America had changed since before the 1960's where African Americans would have had no chance at being elected to now one being elected. -
BLM Movement
BLM, Black Lives Matter was a modern Civil rights movement after Michael Brown and Eric Garner were "unrightfully" killed. These deaths made people outraged. Later. On may 25th 2020 George Floyd was "killed" by a police officer which caused violent protests and looting in major cities. BLM's goal was to highlight racism and racial injustice given by certain individuals. -
College Attendance rate 1962-2019
US Census Bureau, BBC
