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"separate" is not and never will be "equal"
*Beginning in the 1930s, the NAACP--under the leadership of African-American attorney Charles Hamilton Houston-- began its assault on the "separate but equal" doctrine announced in Plessy.- NAACP challenged the separate but equal doctrine established with Plessy vs. Ferguson ruling
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Period: to
Civil Rights
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Earl warren
- Earl Warren is appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court
- Warren effectively joined with great NAACP lawyer Supreme Thurgood Marshall to change history. *Warren wrote the landmark 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision which famously declared that “separate but equal is inherently unequal,” he used his influence as Chief Justice to ensure that the ruling was unanimous.
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Bus Boycott
- In early 1953 the Baton Rouge city-parish council voted to raise fares on the city's buses *Rosa parks refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus and was arrested for violating segregation laws *Led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott *Eventually bus segregation was outlawed
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Brown vs. Board of education
The Supreme Court rules on the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education , unanimously agreeing that segregation in public schools is unconstitutional. The ruling paves the way for large-scale desegregation. The decision overturns the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson ruling that sanctioned "separate but equal" segregation of the races, ruling that "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal." -
segregated lunch counter sit-in
- Student Nonviolent coordinating committee stages segregated lunch counter sit-ins throughout the south
- A group of Morgan State College student activists were denied service at a nearby Read’s Drug Store in Northwood Shopping Center, and they decided to work together with the Baltimore chapter of CORE (Committee on Racial Equality) to integrate the drug store.
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Civil Rights Act of 1957
*Nine African American students known as the Little Rock Nine attempt to go to school
*President Eisenhower sends federal troops to desegregate the high school
* the Act marked the first occasion since Reconstruction that the federal government undertook significant legislative action to protect civil rights -
WoolWorth sit-in
Four black students from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College begin a sit-in at a segregated Woolworth's lunch counter. Although they are refused service, they are allowed to stay at the counter. The event triggers many similar nonviolent protests throughout the South. Six months later the original four protesters are served lunch at the same Woolworth's counter. Student sit-ins would be effective throughout the Deep South -
University of Mississippi desegregation
- University of Mississippi desegregated with James Meredith being the first african Amercian enrolled
- James Meredith, an African American who was attempting to register at the all-white University of Mississippi, known as "Ole Miss."
- Meredith had the support of the federal government, which insisted that Mississippi honor the rights of all its citizens, regardless of race.
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Demonstrations in Birmingham
*In the spring of 1963, activists in Birmingham, Alabama launched one of the most influential campaigns of the Civil Rights Movement: Project C, better known as The Birmingham Campaign
* March to Birmingham, violent reaction by police shocked the nation
* Letters from a Birmingham jail written by Martin Luther King jr. -
"I Have a Dream"
Martin Luther King jr. helps organzie the march on Washington where he delivered his " I have a Dream" speech -
John F. Kennedy assassination
- John F. Kennedy is assassinated and Lyndon B. Johnson comes into office and expands on JFk's vision
- Bullets struck the president's neck and head and he slumped over toward Mrs. Kennedy
- Johnson took the oath of office, administered by U.S. District Court Judge Sarah Hughes
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Civil Rights Act passed
- Civil Rights Act passed outlawing discrimination in the workplace and public facilites
- 24th Amendment ratified
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Malcolm X is assassinated
Malcolm X, black nationalist and founder of the Organization of Afro-American Unity, is shot to death. It is believed the assailants are members of the Black Muslim faith, which Malcolm had recently abandoned in favor of orthodox Islam. -
Voting Rights Act
- Voting Rights Act abolishes literacy tests in national elections
- Poll tax requirements abolished for state elections
*Blacks became politically active and elected black representatives
*It brought jobs, contracts, and facilities and services for the black community, encouraging greater social equality and decreasing the wealth and education gap
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Martin Luther King jr. assassination
Martin Luther King, at age 39, is shot as he stands on the balcony outside his hotel room. Escaped convict and committed racist James Earl Ray is convicted of the crime.
