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Plessy VS Ferguson
http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/plessy-v-ferguson
Homer Plessy refused to sit in a Jim Crow car on a passenger train. This being illegal in Louisiana, Plessy was brought before Judge John H. Ferguson. Ferguson upheld the state law in the court, but the case was overturned when Brown VS. Board of Education came through. Justice Harlan wrote, "The white race deems itself to be the dominant race," in regards to race with civil rights, pointing out the unconstitutional ruling. -
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Congress of Racial Equality
http://bit.ly/2nCak4H
The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) was based off of similar beliefs of Martin Luther King Jr. because the group sought out nonviolent and peaceful approaches. Also, much like the Greensboro sit-in, CORE protested racist and segregationist lunch counters with their own sit-ins. It also participated in the Freedom Rides in Alabama drawing thousands of black and white participants in to support their cause. -
Jackie Robinson
http://www.biography.com/people/jackie-robinson-9460813
Jackie Robinson was the first African American to play in the segregated MLB. He started off in the Negro Leagues but Branch Rickey set him on the track to the MLB and integration of blacks. Rickey was like a role model to Robinson. He taught him that when confronted with racism to not fight back. Even though Robinson and his family were racially segregated in the games, he held an amazing batting average and hit numerous home runs. -
Sweatt VS Painter
http://n.pr/2ohtfjp
Sweatt was a mail carrier who applied to the Law School of the University of Texas and was denied. Painter, the president of the school, stated that he did qualify for entry, but was denied because he was black. Attorney Sellers brought the case to court saying that Painter violated the "constitutionality of segregation in education". After Sweatt won the case and enrolled in the school, he dropped out his sophomore year due to personal complications. -
Brown VS Board of Education
http://bit.ly/1nzUME6
Brown vs. Board of Education was a unanimous decision that overturned the provision of Plessy vs. Ferguson. Plessy's case provided that blacks were "separate but equal", however, separation still provides an inherent segregation which also didn't allow blacks equal protection under the law. A year after the case was settled federal districts were required o start the desegregation process. -
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Montgomery Bus Boycott
http://bit.ly/1ymBgQq
In protest of segregated seating on buses, the Montgomery Bus Boycott was all African Americans in Montgomery, Alabama refusing to ride public buses. The movement started a couple of days after Rosa Parks refused to give her seat to a white man on a public bus. From then on, the protests grew rapidly in size and how often they occurred. When the buses finally became integrated, violence broke out once again on African Americans, but the 14th amendment protected the seating. -
"The Southern Manifesto"
http://bit.ly/2ngf3WC
Also known as the "Declaration of Constitutional Principles", the Southern Manifesto was the "southern defiance" against the Supreme Court's ruling of Brown vs. Board of Education. Since this resolved that black and white schools were "inherently unequal", the separation was unconstitutional. Southerners attacked Brown because they felt it was a breach in judicial power and that the "state's rights" were trespassed. -
Southern Christian Leadership Conference
http://bit.ly/1I8sxN8
The SCLC was a group of 60 black ministers and civil rights leaders led by Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. The main aim of the group was to "abolish legalized segregation". As the group grew it started campaigns and boycotts throughout the east. In 1967 the group began to address poverty in the U.S. by creating the Poor People's Campaign (PPC). About a year later Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on April 4th, 1968. -
Little Rock - Central High School
http://bit.ly/1ufa8Cs
In September 1957, 9 blacks students were enrolled in a formerly all- white school. This was the star of desegregating schools in the south. President of the Arkansas NAACP, Daisy Gaston Bates, slowly recruited them into the school because she felt they all had the strength to test the waters and dip their feet into the future of the desegregation process. A year after the school was integrated, there was a pending vote to "prevent African-American attendance". -
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/sncc
The SNCC was led by Ella Baker who helped start up the SCLC with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It aimed to give young blacks a voice in civil rights. The group wanted to reach its goals through more of a political tactic rather than a violent and confrontational standpoint. The group also aimed to desegregate buses and direct black voter registration drive. 3 members were killed by the Ku Klux Klan in 1964. -
Greensboro Sit-In
http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/the-greensboro-sit-in
4 young black boys planned a sit-in at a lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina. They were protesting for racial equality to force establishments to "change their segregationist policies". This led some 300 students to join the protest resulting in suffocating the lunch counter and making a statement to other local establishments. -
"Freedom Rides"
http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/freedom-rides
13 black and white civil rights activists launched bus trips to protest segregated buses. When one of the buses arrived in Anniston, Alabama, 200 angry white people surrounded the bus and threw a bomb into it. In two different court cases segregation in transportation facilities was deemed unconstitutional. The issue on segregated restrooms, lunch counters, and waiting rooms came up in both cases as well. -
James Meredith
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/james-meredith-shot
James Meredith was the first African American to attend the University of Mississippi. He applied after his service in the U.S. Air force. When the school figured out he was black, his application was revoked. The federal court demanded he be readmitted and upon this, Mississippi Governor Ross Barnett literally blocked his entrance. On June 6th Meredith was shot by a sniper during the March Against Fear but recovered and rejoined. -
"Letter from Birmingham Jail"
http://bit.ly/1YSpCQ8
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was imprisoned on April 16th, 1963 in Alabama's Birmingham jail. He was imprisoned for ignoring an ordinance that "prohibited public gathering without an official permit". While he was in there, a friend smuggled the Birmingham newspaper from April 12th and Martin began a letter in response. In the letter he criticized, agitated, and risked himself to point out real issues in the U.S. -
Medgar Evers
http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/medgar-evers
Medgar Evers was a strong and dedicated African American civil rights activist. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II and after honorable discharge, started attending Alcorn State University. Evers soon joined the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to investigate crimes against blacks. When Evers was murdered on June 12th, 1963, the nation was outraged. The NAACP promoted his brother soon after. -
March On Washington
http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/march-on-washington
The March on Washington was for jobs, freedom, and political and social changes for African Americans. This march is where Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have A Dream" speech came from. It was also "designed to advocate passage of the Civil Rights Act". Although Kennedy and Roosevelt showed no interest towards the movement, black leaders continued to push without fault or dismay. -
Bombing of Birmingham Church
http://bit.ly/2p237IH
16th Street Baptist Church held most of the civil rights protests. On September 15th, 1963 a bomb went off and spewed mortar and bricks caving the churches interior. Most people were able to escape and survive excluding 4 young girls who were found dead under the rubble. Another young girl who had been in the bathroom at the time lost an eye. Another 20 other people were injured. -
24th Amendment
http://bit.ly/2dhhWkk
The 24th amendment states that citizens of the U.S. have the right to vote for every election and that right can not be taken away if they fail to pay taxes. The 24th amendment also abolishes poll taxes because they were originally used to keep African Americans from being able to vote since they were usually very poor and unable to pay these taxes. Along with the taxes, the Supreme Court abolished literacy tests and residency requirements. -
Mississippi Freedom Summer
http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/freedom-summer
The Freedom Summer in Mississippi aimed to help voter registration grow - particularly in the African American population. Many groups such as the Ku Klux Klan, the police, and the state/local authorities tried to prevent this by enforcing harsh beatings and false arrests. African Americans and the civil rights activists that led them still pushed the movement and gained over 300 African American voters. -
Civil Rights Act Passed
http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/civil-rights-act
This Act of 1964 "ended segregation in public places and banned employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin". After Kennedy was assassinated in that November, Lyndon B. Johnson succeeded and planned to do more now that has ever been done before in this session upon the act. The Act immediately effected African Americans, but went on to help the elderly and women as well. -
Malcolm X Assassinated
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/malcolm-x-assassinated
Malcolm and his family grew up with threats towards his family and constant fear of the Ku Klux Klan. When he was 21 he was put in jail for 6 years after conviction of theft. While imprisoned, he met Elijah Muhammad who taught the Islamic ideals to Malcolm and the Black Muslim members. Eventually Malcolm grew from Muhammad's teachings and separated. During one of his speeches at a rally, he was shot by Islamic members. -
Selma to Montgomery March
http://bit.ly/1nGD5oz
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was supposed to allow African Americans to vote without discrimination, but certain committees still made it hard and sometimes near possible for them to try to exercise their right. Martin Luther King Jr. and the SCLC decided to plan the march from Selma to Montgomery after Jimmie Lee Jackson was shot and killed by an Alabama state trooper. While carrying out their protest, the protesters braved possible death, beatings, and arrest. -
Voting Rights Approved
http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/voting-rights-act
President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act because he was a strong supporter of American civil rights. After he succeeded John F. Kennedy following his assassination, Johnson's priority was to ease the lives of American's as a whole. This meant bringing to light the civil rights that African Americans deserved just as much as any white American. -
King Assassinated
http://bit.ly/1v0B75e
Before Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination in Memphis, Tennessee, he was a popular African American civil rights activist. He tended to favor more of a nonviolent approach, probably because that was all he got throughout his years of dedication. He was assassinated on the balcony of the hotel he was staying at just the day after his speech in Memphis in support of a "sanitation worker's strike". -
Black Panthers
http://bit.ly/1SM5axc
The Black Panther Party thought that, unlike Martin Luther King Jr., violence would be the only way to get what they, and every other African American wanted. They made a 10 step plan to get 4 main desires. The desires were "equality in education, housing, employment and civil rights". The 10 step plan was more of a series of issues to resolve and fight for rather than instructions on how to get what they wanted directly.
