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Plessy v. Ferguson
This decision made by the U.S. Supreme Court kept racial segregation for public facilities. The only criteria they had to uphold was being equal. -
NAACP
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People secured the rights so they could eliminate discrimination due to race. -
Brown v. Board Of Education of Topeka
A Supreme Court case that racial segregation in schools was wrong and unconstitutional. -
De jure v. De facto Segregation
De jure segregation is by law, while De facto is segregation by opinion. -
Thurgood Marshall
He made an effort to stop discrimination. When he was a lawyer, he won the Brown v. Board of Education case. Later on, he was on the Supreme Court for 24 years. -
Emmett Till
An African American 14 year-old, Emmett Till visited family in Mississippi. He was murdered by being beaten, having his eyes gouged out, and then being shot. His body was tied to a cotton-gin fan and thrown in a river. -
Rosa Parks
An African American seamstress from Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks, refused to give up her seat on a bus. She was arrested and leaders in the black community organized a bus boycott. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
On the day of Rosa Parks' trial, African Americans in Montgomery, Alabama boycotted the buses. -
Little Rock School Integration
The Little Rock Nine were a group of black students that enrolled in a former all-white high school in Little Rock, Arkansas. On the first day of school, the governor called in the Arkansas National Guard to block the black students entrance into the school. -
The Sit-Ins
A series of nonviolent protests in Greensboro, North Carolina. This led to a store chain removing its racial segregation policy. -
Freedom Riders
They were civil rights activists who went into the segregated South of the U.S. They protested against segregated bus terminals. -
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Dr. King was influenced by Gandhi, an advocate for economic independence in India. Thoreau, an American writer and philosopher was also a big inspiration to MLK, along with Philip Randolph, a leader from the labor movement. -
March on Birmingham, Alabama
Martin Luther King, Jr., Ralph Abernathy, Fred Shuttlesworth and others were arrested in Birmingham, AL, for "parading without a permit" for a protest. -
March on Washington
A protest of 250,000 people in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. The protest was meant to draw attention to the inequalities that African Americans faced, even after emancipation. -
Malcolm X
Activist, Malcolm X, challenged the civil rights movement. He had a large influence on black youth and subsequently started the Black Power movement. -
24th Amendment
The 24th Amendment abolished the poll tax. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
This act ended segregation in public places and employment discrimination due to race, religion, sex, or national origin. It is seen as one of the most important achievements in the civil rights movement. -
March from Selma to Montgomery
As a protest, African Americans marched 54 miles for voting rights in the South. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
A law giving African Americans the right to vote. This act is seen as one of the biggest strides in civil rights history. -
Race Riots
In predominantly black neighborhoods, riots broke out and lasted several days. -
Black Panther Party
Founded by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale, the Black Panther Party challenged police brutality with African Americans. Members would wear all black and patrolled many cities in the U.S.
