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Executive Order 9981
President Truman signs an executive order that states "It is hereby declared to be the policy of the President that there shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion, or national origin." This was the start of many of the following events and provided protection for protesters. -
Brown vs. Board of Education
Brown vs. Board of Education was a supreme court case that outlawed segregated public schools. This case overruled the Plessy vs. Ferguson case of 1896 that stated that segregated schools were constitutional as long as the two facilities were equal. Oliver Brown filed this case against the Topeka, Kansas school board because they denied his child's access to the white school, which he claimed was not equal to the one they were already attending. This is important because it desegregated schools. -
Emmett Till
A fourteen-year-old boy was visiting family in Mississippi when he was kidnapped, beaten, shot, and dumped in a river for allegedly whistling at a white woman. Two white men are arrested for this murder but are on trial with an all white jury. This is important because it brought attention to how severely racist many people in the US were at this time. -
Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks refused to get up from her seat on a bus to give it to a white person. She was arrested for this and because of her arrest, a Montgomery bus boycott began. This lasted for more than a year where no one from the black community in Montgomery rode the bus until they became unsegregated. Martin Luther King Jr. is a part of this boycott. This was important because Rosa Parks took a stand, or a seat in this case, for what she believed in and inspired many others to follow her. -
The Little Rock Nine
Nine students are blocked from entering a school they were legally allowed to attend. President Eisenhower had to send the National Guard and federal troops to intervene for the students. This was important because it showed that the government supported people of the civil rights movement and the problem was with the racist citizens. -
James Meredith
James Meredith becomes the very first black student to go to the University of Mississippi. Many violent protests are created because of this, causing government troops to intervene. This is very important because it shows that every student is allowed to get the same education, regardless of their skin color. -
Martin Luther King Jr. Arrested
Martin Luther King Jr. is arrested and placed in jail because he was participating in an anti-segregation protest in Birmingham, Alabama. He wrote a letter from his jail cell titled "Letter from Birmingham Jail" which stated that he was obligated to fight against unjust laws. This is important because Martin Luther King Jr. was very respected and looked up to and it showed the racist behaviors of this specific police force. -
March on Washington
Around 200,000 people join the March on Washington to protest against segregation. This is where and when Martin Luther King Jr. gave his "I Have A Dream" speech. This was extremely important to the Civil Rights Movement because it got many people together and inspired them to stand up for equality. -
Loving vs. Virginia
Previous to this case, interracial marriage had been outlawed. This case argued that this was unconstitutional and the sixteen states that banned it at this time are forced to get rid of those laws.This was important because it fixed an unconstitutinal law that denied people their right to marry who they want. -
Martin Luther King Jr. Death
Martin Luther King Jr. was shot dead while he was standing on his balcony outside of his hotel room. James Earl Ray was charged with his murder was an escaped convict and extremely racist. This was a large loss for people in the civil rights movement because he was a figure they all looked up to, which is why it was so important.
