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The Supreme Court Declares Bus Segregation Unconstitutional (1956)
Due to riots and rebellions against the montgomery bus system, orchestrated by the black community, busses became desegregated according to the supreme court. Regardless of the court's decision, the city and state deemed the busses to be segregated anyway and the federal court caught wind of their disobedience. They enforced the law stroger and black men and women sat on the bus where they pleased. The white men rioted creating civil disobedience. -
The 1960 Presidential Election
Republican Richard M. Nixon and Democrat John F. Kennedy ran for president and it was the closest election in history. They both avoided civil rights so southern voters didn't turn against them. Martin Luther King jr. was arrested in ATL and Kennedy and his team reached out to kings wife and juge. King spoke on Kennedy's behalf, against Nixon. This caused a long history of black republican voters to turn Democrat. -
The Desegregation of Interstate Travel (1960)
After Kennedy was elected, civil rights activists were upset at the lack of improvements with the issue made by him. The supreme court however required buses to fully integrate. To test the strength of the law, a group of black and white volunteers rode from Washington D.C to Louisiana. They thought if they could make it politically dangerous, then they would be protected by the supreme court, from Jim Crow laws. This act was self- defense because they were only doing what the court allowed. -
The Supreme Court Orders Ole Miss to Integrate (1962)
From Brown vs board of education, schools became integrated according to the supreme court. This ended "separate but equal". Southern states however defied the courts decision and denied a black man admission into Ole Miss. The man took his case to court and it was ruled that he should be allowed to go to that school. The man was granted the position at Ole Miss however he was shot by a white mississippian. I believe the black man's efforts were self defense. -
The March on Washington (1963)
Philip Randolph an activist for civil rights planned a march on Washington to demand jobs for African Americans. That could never happen however because Roosevelt banned discrimination by defense. Two decades lader Randolph decided a march was necessary and a quarter of a million black and whites marched to the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. in a show of unity, racial harmony and support for the civil rights bill. -
The Civil Rights Act of 1964
Because support for a federal Civil Rights Act was the biggest goal for the march on washington, Kennedy created a bill that achieved many of the aims of a Reconstruction-era law, the Civil Rights Act of 1875, which was passed but soon overturned. The act banned discrimination in public places like restaurants, theaters, and hotels. Discrimination in hiring was also forbidden. The act established the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to help enforce the law. -
The 1964 Presidential Election
In the presidential election of 1964, Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson defeated Republican Barry Goldwater. Goldwater won Arizona and the five states of the Deep South. Later at the Democratic convention in Atlantic City that summer, Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party sent black and white delegates to the convention to replace the delegation of the whites-only Mississippi Democratic Party. The MFDP embarrassed President Johnson and rejected his compromise of two "at large" seats. -
Lyndon Johnson's "We Shall Overcome" speech
Following "bloody sunday" Lyndon Johnson spoke about a joint session of Congress. He announced the voting rights legislation he would be introducing. "Their cause must be our cause, too," He stated, "[A]ll of us... must overcome the crippling legacy of bigotry and injustice. And we shall overcome." -
The Voting Rights Act of 1965
The civil rights act of 64 didn't cover the legal and illegal ways the whites could deny blacks the right to vote in state and local elections. Martin Luther king led a march to present a petition to Governor George Wallace asking him to remove obstacles to voter registration. Support for the Voting Rights Act increased and Lyndon B. Johnson signed the act into law. -
The Kerner Commission Report (1968)
The commission presented a report in February 1968. "Our nation is moving toward two societies, one black, one white — separate and unequal,". Detroit was immune to the race riots however, urban renewal projects designed to sweep away black neighborhoods and complaints about Detroit police abuse were not addressed. The Commission's recommendations for reform included economic empowerment with a large increase in the federal budget but the president was unwilling to pay. -
The 1968 Election
Richard Nixon, the Republican candidate, won against George Wallace and Hubert Humphrey. The democratic party because Lyndon B. Johnson had decided not to run for reelection as Eugene McCarthy won many early delegates on an anti-war platform. Kennedy also entered the race and campaigned in indianapolis after the death of Martin Luther King jr. That summer kennedy was also assassinated The Democratic Party held a convention that became a center of protests and riots. -
The Attica Prison Riot (1971)
The Attica State prison was very overcrowded and the living conditions were absurd. A group of inmates sent letters to authorities, asking for more showers and toilet paper. At the time prisoners got a bucket a week to shower and a roll of toilet paper a month. After neglect from authorities, the prisoners took over the facility and kept 40 guards as hostages. After days of negotiations, state troopers took the prison back by killing ten hostages and twenty-nine inmates. -
The National Black Political Convention (1972)
The group included elected officials and revolutionaries, integrationists and black nationalists. They met in Gary, Indiana, a majority black city where they were welcomed by a black mayor, Richard Hatcher. Goals including the election of a proportionate number of black representatives to Congress, community control of schools, national health insurance, and the elimination of capital punishment. -
The Federal Court Order to Integrate Boston Schools
They held meetings and rallies, organized freedom schools and independent busing programs, and successfully lobbied for state legislation to demonstrate the segregated and unequal nature of Boston schools. The board rejected any suggestions because they wanted the schools segregated. So the NAACP turned to the federal courts and they found that Boston was guilty of unconstitutional and intentional segregation in its schools. The most controversial aspect of his plan was two-way busing. -
The Bakke Case and the Status of Affirmative Action in 1978
local governments attempted to level the economic field through assistance programs for minorities known as Affirmative Action. The strategy reduced advantages of patronage, exclusive experience and economic power that whites enjoyed. Allan Bakke, a white applicant, sued the University of California, claiming that he had suffered discrimination.The Court ruled that the school's application system was unconstitutional however it was also held that race could be used as a factor in admissions.