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Plessy v. Ferguson
The Supreme Court ruled that this "separate but equal" law did not violate the Fourteenth Amendment, which guaranteed all Americans equal treatment under the law. With the Plessy decision, states mainly in the South, passed Jim Crow laws, that aimed at separating the races. This resulted in restrictions on social and religious contact between the races. -
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
Civil rights organization which fought for prejudice, desegregation, and to work for better treatment of the "Colored people." They did this mainly through court cases. -
The Sit-Ins
African American protesters sat down at segregated lunch counters and refused to leave until they were served. Managers were angered by this and called the police, raised the price of food, and removed the counter seats. By late 1960, students had descended on and desegregated lunch counters in some 48 cities and 11 states. -
Malcolm X
He went to jail for burglary. While in jail, he studied the teachings of Elijah Muhammad, the head of the Nation of Islam(Black Muslims). He changed his name from Malcolm Little to Malcolm X, dropping what he called his "slave name." After his release he became an Islamic minister. He preached that whites were the cause of the black condition and that blacks should separate from white society. He advocated self defense, which frightened many Whites and African Americans. -
Thurgood Marshall
He dedicated his life to fighting racism. Marshall was nominated by JFK to the U.S. Court of Appeals. He was the first African American Supreme Court justice. Marshall and his NAACP lawyers would win 29 out of 32 cases argued before the Supreme Court. The Supreme court declared unconstitutional those state laws mandating segregated seating on buses. They also said that state law schools must admit black individuals. -
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka
The father of Linda Brown had charged the board of education of Topeka, Kansas, with violating Linda's rights by denying her admission to an all white elementary school close to her house. The nearest all black school was far away. The Supreme Court, without opposition, struck down segregation in schooling as an unconstitutional violation of the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause. They ruled that "Separate but equal" was unconstitutional. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
Proved to the world that the African American community could unite and organize a successful protest movement. It also proved the power of nonviolent resistance, the peaceful refusal to obey unjust laws. African Americans like Rosa Parks and MLK Jr. took direct action to win the rights promised to them by the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments. -
Emmett Till
A 14 year old African American boy who was murdered for flirting with a white woman. -
Rosa Parks
She took a seat in the front row of the "colored" section of a Montgomery bus. The driver ordered her to empty the row so that a white man could sit down. She refused to move. The driver threatened to call the police and have her arrested. She was soon arrested and the news spread rapidly. Thus, creating a bus boycott. -
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Gandhi, Thoreau, Randolph
MLK Jr. led the bus boycott. His speeches brought people together, African Americans refused to ride the buses. The Supreme Court finally outlawed bus segregation. He based his ideas on Thoreau and his concept of civil disobedience, the refusal to obey an unjust law. From Randolph, he learned to organize massive demonstrations. From Gandhi, he learned to resist oppression without violence. -
Little Rock Integration
Governor Orval Faubus of Arkansas publicly showed support for segregation. He ordered the National Guard to turn away the "Little Rock Nine"- the nine African American students who had volunteered to integrate Little Rock's Central school as the first step in Blossom's plan. His plan was desegregation. These nine students were then allowed into the school. -
De Jure vs. De Facto segregation
De facto segregation is segregation that exists by practice and custom and it can be harder to fight than de jure segregation, or segregation by law, because eliminating it requires changing people's attitudes rather than repealing laws. De facto segregation began a "white fight" in which numbers of whites moved out of cities to the suburbs. -
Freedom Riders
They hoped to provoke a violent reaction that would convince Kennedy administration to enforce the law. The two-bus trip would test the Supreme Court decisions banning segregated seating on interstate bus routes and segregated facilities in bus terminals. -
March on Birmingham, Alabama
This city was known for its strict enforcement of total segregation in public life and its reputation for racial violence. MLK Jr. and the SCLC came to help desegregate the city. King and a small band of marchers were arrested during a demonstration. -
March on Washington
More than 250,000 people- including about 75,000 whites- converged on the nations capital. They assembled on the lawn of the Washington Monument and marched to the Lincoln Memorial. These people listened to speakers demanding the immediate passage of the civil rights bill. Here is where MLK Jr. gave his "I Have a Dream" speech. -
24th Amendment
Abolished the poll tax for all federal elections. -
Race Riots
Public outbreaks of violence between the two groups. Between 1964 and 1968 more than 100 riots broke out in major American cities. The worst were in Watts, Los Angles and Detroit, Michigan. Many people were killed and there was tons of property damage. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Prohibited discrimination because of race, religion, national origin, and gender. It gave all citizens the right to enter libraries, parks, washrooms, restaurants , theaters, and other public accomidations -
March from Selma to Montgomery for voting rights
This was a major voting rights campaign to register voters. A demonstrator was killed, so in response King announced a 50-mile protest march from Selma to Montgomery. More than 2,000 African Americans were arrested in these demonstrations. 600 protesters set out. That night chaos broke out, police were swinging objects and tear gas was all around the fallen marchers. President Johnson presented Congress with a new voting rights act. The army of marchers grew. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
Law that made it easier for African Americans to register to vote by eliminating discriminatory literacy tests and authorizing federal examiners to enroll voters denied at the local level. Nixon opposed the extension of this, despite his opposition, Congress voted to extend it. -
Black Panther Party
This party fought police brutality in the ghetto. They advocated self sufficiency for African American communities, with full employment and decent housing. Members maintained that African Americans should be exempt from military service because an unfair number of black youths had been drafted to serve in Vietnam. They dressed in black leather jackets, black berets, and sunglasses, they preached self defense and sold writings of Mao Zedong. Many of their activities won support in the ghettos.
