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Brown vs. Board of Education
The Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas was initiated when a 8 year-old Linda Brown had to travel for a long time to a distant school instead of going to a nearby white elementary school. The Supreme Court heard the case and ultimately Chief Justice Earl Warren handed down the ruling that "separate but equal" schools are inherently unequal. This decision paved the way for future desegregation of other facilities including private businesses, restaurants, and transportation. -
Rosa Parks refuses to give up seat on Montgomery bus
After attending a civil rights conference a few months earlier, Rosa Parks made history by refusing to give up her seat on a bus to a white passenger in Montgomery, Alabama. The bus driver ordered her to move to the colored section, and after she refused she was arrested. Her act of bravery sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycotts, a direct attack on government earnings, which ended in the repealing of segregation laws dealing with public buses.
https://www.biography.com/people/rosa-parks-9433715 -
Civil Rights Act of 1957
The Civil Rights Act of 1957 was enacted to show the government's support of racial equality. It set the Civil Rights Commission to gather information about infringements on rights caused by race, gender, religion, and national origin and it banned many poll intimidation practices. It is significant because it was the first civil rights law since 1875 and it paved a way for more effective civil rights bills to come.
https://thefightforcivilrights.wikispaces.com/Civil%20Rights%20Act%20of%201957 -
Martin Luther King Jr. Arrested
Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested and imprisoned because he and others were protesting the treatment of blacks in Birmingham, Alabama, a difficult place for blacks to live at the time due to discriminatory violence. A court had ordered that King could not hold protests in Birmingham. This was significant because it spawned the Birmingham Letter which spread his message to previously unreachable parts of America.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King,_Jr._Montgomery_arrest.jpg -
March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
A massive protest march occurred as 250,000 people gathered in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. The event aimed to draw attention to challenges and inequalities faced by African Americans 100 years after emancipation. Here, Martin Luther King Jr. gave his "I have a dream" speech.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_on_Washington_for_Jobs_and_Freedom -
Kennedy Assassinated
John F. Kennedy was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald, and while tragic, it allowed for Lyndon B. Johnson to take over. This is significant because his administration was able to harness the country's anger and redirect it toward aggressive passage of many civil rights legislation pieces.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/10/23/final-batch-secret-files-jfk-assassination/790454001/ -
Freedom Summer
Freedom Summer was a campaign to increase voting registration among African Americans in Mississippi sponsored by the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. It was largely protested by the KKK and inhibited by countless voter intimidation laws, but it successfully registered thousands mostly towards the Democratic party, which encourages more participation in government.
https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2014/06/14/318917992/50-years-ago-freedom-summer-began-by-training-for-battle
