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Events changing the lives of African Americans
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1. Brown v. Board of Education
The Supreme Court case that struct down the "separate but equal" legal doctrine once confirmed in the Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) case. States used "separate but equal" to restrict the civil rights of African Americans, including segregating public schools.The Supreme Court ruled the doctrine unconstitutional. This opened the door to a civil rights push to integrate schools and other public accommodations. There were a lot of segregation laws to overturn, requiring more federal cases and laws. -
2. Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott
The Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA), a civil rights activists group formed and held a one-day bus boycott after Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger. The NAACP started preparing a legal challenge to bus segregation. The boycott and campaign continued until a federal court ruled that the Montgomery Alabama segregated bus laws were unconstitutional. The success of this boycott inspired further nonviolent civil rights protests. -
3. Integration of Little Rock Central High School
The NAACP registered 9 African American students in this all-white school as a test case following the Brown ruling. The Arkansas governor used soldiers to prevent those students from entering. The federal government had to intervene for the students to attend. These exceptional students, the "Little Rock Nine," included fifteen year old Elizabeth Eckford. These students and their families faced daily harassment and attacks. Integration proceeded haltingly, with many legal and social battles. -
4. Integration of the University of Mississippi
James Meredith became the first African American to enroll at the segregated University of Mississippi where riots erupted on the campus and President Kennedy had to send in 500 U.S. Marshals to protect Meredith. Like Little Rock High School's integration, Mississippi's governor Barnett tried to bar Meredith. Barnett's rhetoric stirred a violent riot, killing two people. Like the Little Rock 9, Meredith faced continual harassment. Educational opportunity for African Americans gradually improved. -
5. The March on Washington
"100 years later, the Negro still is not free," Martin Luther King, Jr. 100 years after Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, the march pressured Congress to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the peaceful rally's success encouraged organizers to plan the Selma to Montgomery voting rights marches. The DC march was organized by the NAACP, SCLC, SNCC, labor groups and religious groups. King gave his moving "I have a dream" speech to a crowd of over 200,000 peaceful protesters. -
6. The Civil Rights Act of 1964
This act established the Civil Rights Commission to investigate civil rights violations, and a Commission on Equal Employment Opportunity. This bill outlawed segregation in employment, schools, and public accommodations. The Act made discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin illegal. It did not include protection against police brutality, a remaining problem for African Americans. This labor law has helped raise African American earnings by prohibiting discrimination. -
7. The Selma to Montgomery Marches
These long marches were nonviolent demonstrations by African Americans campaigning for voting rights which Southern states such as Alabama repressed. The SCLC and Martin Luther King, Jr. joined the protests. Alabama State troopers viciously attacked the marchers on March 7, 1965, earning the nickname "Bloody Sunday." People around the world and in other parts of the country were horrified by the violence. The spectacle hastened the Voting Rights Act through Congress. -
8. Voting Rights Act of 1965
Congress passed this under pressure from the NAACP, President Johnson and events like "Bloody Sunday." The act bans literacy tests. It empowers the federal government to oversee voting registration and elections in states that have discriminated against minorities. It was necessary because politicians have worked to disenfranchise minorities repeatedly. This act enforces the voting rights guaranteed in Amendments 14 and 15. Congress has expanded the Act, including Hispanic voters in 1975. -
9. The Black Power Movement and The Black Panther Party
The Black Power movement advocated "black power" and black pride, to help African Americans create their own political and cultural and business institutions. Term "black power" was coined by Stokely Carmichael. The Black Panther Party was an active political party until 1982. It armed citizens to protect African Americans from police abuse. The party create anti-poverty programs like free breakfast for children and health clinics. -
10. The Holy Week Uprising or King Assassination Riots
Riots and social unrest occurred after Martin Luther King, the nonviolent civil rights leader, was assassinated. Martin Luther King espoused peaceful protest, but his brutal killing and the enduring racism ignited an angry response. These riots and earlier riots revived the Civil Rights Act of 1968 in Congress. Northern and Southern senators had resisted this bill because it included fair housing legislation which many segregationists opposed. These riots also fueled the Black Power movement. -
1. Rainbow Coalition/Push
Based in Chicago, the Rainbow Coalition/Push organization lobbies politicians to improve economic opportunities for African Americans. It raises public awareness through boycotts. The organization is successful in getting corporations in African American communities to hire more minorities and do business with African American owned small businesses. It was formed by Jesse Jackson, who worked for Martin Luther King, Jr. and the SCLC, and participated in the Selma to Montgomery marches. -
2. 1st African American candidate for a major party's Presidential nomination.
Shirley Chisholm became the first black woman elected to the US Congress, serving for seven terms. She also was the first woman and the first African American to seek the Democratic Party's nomination for President of the United States. Chisholm credited her strict British education as a child and her high school education at a competitive, integrated school in New York City, with teaching her to write and speak well, which helped Chisholm later as a politician and author. -
3. Oprah Winfrey launches a syndicated talk show
Oprah Winfrey, who was born poor in Mississippi, became a talk show host, businesswoman, and America's first African American multi-billionaire. She is considered one of the most influential people in the world today. Winfrey was born in 1954, and came of age after the early civil rights movement gains. She participated in Upward Bound a federally funded educational program for low income students. She was an African American female pioneer when talk show hosts were mainly white and male. -
4. 1st African American Joint Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces and Secretary of State
Colin Powell became the first African American Joint Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces in 1989, then became the first Secretary of State in 2001. -
Elizabeth Eckford, on the 45th Anniversary of Little Rock
Not everyone who participated in the civil rights movement benefited. Elizabeth Eckford, one of the Little Rock 9, suffers post traumatic stress disorder and depression from those events. Her solo walk through the mob, left an impression she said "only death will erase." She has trouble speaking to others. A bright young woman who wanted to be a lawyer like Thurgood Marshall, she has struggled to make a living. The other 8 had successful careers, and married, mostly leaving the state or the US. -
James Meredith, on the 40th Anniversary of Integrating "Ole Miss"
James Meredith earned a law degree, and became an activist, writer and political candidate. In 1966, he was shot during his solo "March Against Fear" through the Mississippi Delta to encourage African Americans to register to vote. 10,000 others joined the march, and he was able to finish his march. Later his son earned a doctorate at the University of Mississippi. Meredith was honored with a statue commemorating being the first African American to graduate from "Ole Miss." -
5. 1st African American woman serves as Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice became the first African American woman to be Secretary of State. -
6. Barack Obama, 1st African American President
Obama received 365 electoral votes to McCain's 173 votes. "We have not yet created a truly multiracial democratic society in America. It’s not post-racial. If you ask me whether the election of Barack Obama is the fulfillment of Dr. King’s dream, I say, ‘No, it’s just a down payment.’ There’s still too many people 50 years later, there’s still too many people that are being left out and left behind.” -Rep. John Lewis -
7. Black Lives Matter Movement
Black Lives Matter activists campaign against systematic racism in the criminal justice system and police brutality against African Americans. They use nonviolent protest tactics borrowed from the 1960s Civil Rights Movement. The movement began with a call to action on social media. It is a grassroots movement that has spread nationally. -
John Lewis, on the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington
"If it hadn't been for the March on Washington, we wouldn't be where we are today. It changed America forever."-John Lewis, US Congressman. John Lewis' life has changed because of the civil rights movement. When Mr. Lewis spoke at the March on Washington, he was unable to register to vote in Alabama. Lewis was encouraged by civil rights activists he met, and he became 1 of the original freedom riders. Lewis has served 17 terms as a Congressman. -
8. U.S. National Anthem Protests
Professional athletes protest and call attention to racism and police brutality against African Americans by kneeling during the U.S. national anthem. -
9. Grassroots Civil Rights Protests in the Trump Era
Since Trump, who says racist and misogynistic things, has been in office, grassroots civil rights protests have been growing. There have been 3,528 protest events since 2017. This includes activity in response to the Charlottesville white supremacist rally where a white supremacist killed Heather Heyer and injured 28 others. "If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention."-Heather Heyer's last post on Facebook. -
10. The 91st Academy Awards is more inclusive
Awards went to Black Panther, the 3rd highest grossing film ever in North America. Two African American performers won Oscars. The first African American to win for Best Animated Feature won for Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Two African Americans won best Adapted Screenplay for BlackKkKlansman about a black policeman who exposes the Ku Klux Klan. -
Today
"The government they devised was defective from the start, requiring several amendments, a civil war, and major social transformations to attain the system of constitutional government and its respect for the freedoms and individual rights we hold as fundamental today." -Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall
