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Plessy v. Ferguson
The Plessy v. Ferguson court case essentially legalized racism and segregation. It enforced the idea of "separate but equal" which meant that everywhere you went there was a place for white people and a place for African Americans and the two did not intermix. -
NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People)
The NAACP was an activist group that fought for the rights of African Americans during the Civil Rights Movement. -
Thurgood Marshall
Thurgood Marshall was a lawyer that worked with the NAACP, he spent his life working to end segregation and make the nation a more equal place. He played a huge role in many supreme court cases that changed the tide of America. He also went on to become the first African American supreme court justice. -
Malcolm X
Malcolm X was an African American man who got sent to jail for burglary at the age of 20. During his time in prison he studied Muslim teachings and when he got out of jail he became an Islamic Minister. He inspired people in the African American community and increased their racial pride. -
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka
Brown v. Board of Education was a court case that took place in Kansas, the father of Linda Brown was suing the school for not allowing his daughter into their all white school that was very close to their home and instead forcing them to go to an all African American that was out of the way. The court sided with Brown and became a very important day in the ending of segregation. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
After the incident with Rosa Parks happened, the NAACP and the African American community decided not to use the buses until there were no more colored sections. After 381 days, they succeeded and the buses became desegregated. -
Emmett Till
Emmett Till was an African American from Chicago who went to Mississippi to visit his cousin, when he was there he said bye to a white woman and the next day was found mutilated in some farm machinery. The two men on trial for his murder were found not guilty. -
Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks was an African American woman and an NAACP officer. In an act of protest against the segregated buses in the US at the time, she sat it the front of the bus instead of the back like she was supposed to by the laws of segregation. -
Little Rock School Integration
A school in Little Rock Arkansas became the first to admit African American students without court order. They admitted 9 students, these 9 went to the school under watch of the national guard. Even with the protection of the national guard the 9 students faced harassment daily. -
Race Riots
During the civil rights time, there were many events that went on in the US that attacked African American people, led to many deaths in the African American and even some in the white community -
Sit-Ins
The sit-ins were a form of peaceful protest used in the civil rights movement. They included African Americans sitting at lunch counters that were designated for white people and then refusing to leave. This form of protest was very important during the civil rights movement and helped the movement gain a lot of attention and momentum. -
Freedom Rides
The freedom riders were groups of African Americans who rode the buses in the south with hopes to start enforcing the desegregated buses. They received violent reactions from their protest, which is what they desired. -
March on Birmingham, Alabama
March on Birmingham was a series of peaceful protests made by African American Activists in 1963. These protests include lunch counter sit ins, marching on City Hall, and boycotting. -
March On Washington
The March on Washington was a historic event where almost 250,000 people all came to the Lincoln Memorial to gain attention for the African American community and all the inequalities they still faced. This is also the same event where MLK gave his "I Have A Dream" speech. -
24th Amendment
This amendment was put into place to remove poll taxes, made it easier for African American people to vote. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
This Civil Rights Act was put in place by Lyndon B. Johnson and it made discrimination because of race, religion, origin, and gender illegal it also allowed anyone to have the right to go into public areas. -
De Jure vs. De Facto Segregation
De Jure segregation was segregation that happened by law and De Facto happened by practice and not due to the law. -
March from Selma to Montgomery For Voting Rights
After the death of an African American demonstrator, Martin Luther King organized a march all the way from Selma to Montgomery. This march prompted President Johnson to put more voting rights in place. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
This act removed the literacy tests that were holding African Americans back from voting since these tests were impossible to pass. The amount of African American voters went up by 50% in the next election due to this act. -
Black Panther Party
They were a political group that fought against police brutality and fought for self sufficiency in the African American community. -
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
MLK was a very important figurehead during the Civil Rights movement, he showed people how to fight wrongs by using peace instead of force. He got his ideas of peaceful protest from Ghandi and he wanted to fight these unjust laws because of Thoreau who taught civil disobedience. He wanted to gain a lot of attention for African Americans by bringing together large groups of people, he learned to bring mass groups together from Randolph.
