Civil Rights Timeline

  • Brown vs Board of education

    Brown vs Board of education
    The precedent for this case (Plessy v.s Ferguson contradicts the outcome of Brown vs Board of Education because the constitutional question at hand referred to the separate but equal clause. This Supreme Court case banned segregation. Brown argued that the separate but equal clause is unconstitutional under the 14th amendment which stated the U.S's promise to assure every citizen equal protection under the law. 1952-1954
  • Emmet Tills murder

    Emmet Tills murder
    A 14-year-old African American who was brutely murdered for whistling at a white woman.
  • Rosa Parks & the Montgomery Bus Boycott

    Rosa Parks & the Montgomery Bus Boycott
    Rosa Parks was an African American woman who refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on the segregated bus just 4 days before the Montgomery Bus Boycott. I believe Rosa Parks tipped the tolerance of segregation to its breaking points which triggered the boycott. The Montgomery Bus Boycott ultimately demonstrated the people's feelings toward segregation. They did not like it and used the boycott as a form of protest.
  • Little Rock Nine

    Little Rock Nine
    After segregation was declared unconstitutional 9 African Americans were handpicked to be the first to integrate into Little Rock high school.
  • Greensboro Woolworth's Sit-ins

    Greensboro Woolworth's Sit-ins
    The Greensboro sit-ins were a series of nonviolent protests in February to July 1960
  • Freedom Riders

    Freedom Riders
    The freedom riders rode on a bus throughout the interstate. They advocated equality and impacted social perspective during that time (1961). (Civil Rights Activists)
  • March on Washington

    March on Washington
    Martin Luther King Jr's incredibly impactful "I have a dream" speech occurred on the same day of the march. The march took place at the Lincoln Memorial and was a display of nonviolent protest..
  • Birmingham Baptist Church Bombing

    Birmingham Baptist Church Bombing
    A predominantly black Baptist Church was brutely bombed by a white supremacist terrorist in Birmingham. 4 African American girls were killed.
  • Civil Rights Act

    Civil Rights Act
    A federal law that outlawed discrimination on the bases of race, sex, national origin, or religion in public places.
  • Voting Rights Act

    Voting Rights Act
    The purpose of this federal act was to ban public literacy tests because it was discriminatory to African Americans
  • “Bloody Sunday”/Selma to Montgomery March

    “Bloody Sunday”/Selma to Montgomery March
    600 civil rights activists marched east out of Selma on the U.S Route 80. They were soon met with local lawmen who tear-gassed and billy clubbed them back into Selma.
  • Loving v.s Virgina

    Loving v.s Virgina
    The court ruled that the 14th amendment, due process clause, and the equal protection clause all protect interracial marriage. This case banned laws preventing interracial marriage.