-
The Father of Black History Month
We owe the celebration of Black History Month to Dr. Carter Woodson, who was greatly disturbed to find in his studies that history books largely ignored the black American population. In 1926 he launched Negro History Week as an initiative to bring national attention to the contributions of black people throughout America.
http://www2.vcdh.virginia.edu/bib/ -
Racial Intergration of the Armed Forces
African Americans have participated in every major U.S. war and information about their participation has always been limited. This was due to the inferior positions that the solders were deligated to while they served. During WWII President Harry S. Truman issued an executive oder intergrating the U.S. armed forces.
btx3.wordpress.com -
Period: to
The Establishment and Growth of Black History Month
Black History Month is observed every February in the United States. It was initially known as 'Negro Week' and Dr. Carter G. Woodson was the pioneer behind the importance of studying black history. -
Brown vs Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kans. declares that racial segregation in schools is unconstitutional.This came about when Linda Brown was denied admission to her local elementary school in Topeka because she was black. Combined with other cases, her suite reached the Supreme Court and it overruled the 'separate but equal' doctrine.
sites.google.com -
The Murder of Emmet Till
A young black boy, Emmett Till, is brutally murdered for allegedly whistling at a white woman in Mississippi. Two white men charged with the crime are acquitted by an all-white jury. They later boast about committing the murder. The public outrage generated by the case helps spur the civil rights movement.
newsone.com -
Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat at the front of the "colored section" of a bus to a white passenger. In response to her arrest Montgomery's black community launch a successful year-long bus boycott. Montgomery's buses are desegregated on Dec. 21, 1956. Because of her action, Mrs Parks is called the 'mother of the civil rights movement.'
www.biography.com -
SCLC and Little Rock Nine
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), a civil rights group, is established by Martin Luther King, Charles K. Steele, and Fred L. Shuttlesworth.
Nine black students are blocked from entering the school on the orders of Governor Orval Faubus. Federal troops and the National Guard are called to intervene on behalf of the students, who become known as the "Little Rock Nine." Despite a year of violent threats, several of the "Little Rock Nine" manage to graduate
commons.wikimedia.org -
Greensboro Sit In
In what would become a civil-rights movement milestone, a group of black Greensboro, N.C., college students began a sit-in at a segregated Woolworth's lunch counter. The sit-in provoked all manner of emotions and laid the foundation for peaceful demonstrations agaisnt racial segregation.
greensborositins.wordpress.com -
Grutter vs Bollinger
In Grutter v. Bollinger, the most important affirmative action decision since the 1978 Bakke case, the Supreme Court (5–4) upholds the University of Michigan Law School's policy, ruling that race can be one of many factors considered by colleges when selecting their students because it furthers "a compelling interest in obtaining the educational benefits that flow from a diverse student body."
www.newrepublic.com -
President Barack Obama
Barack Obama becomes the first African-American president and the country's 44th president. On February 2, the U.S. Senate confirms, with a vote of 75 to 21, Eric H. Holder, Jr., as Attorney General of the United States. Holder is the first African American to serve as Attorney General.
washington.cbslocal.com -
CONCLUSION
For generations the history of black people has been ignored or downplayed in the school curriculum and American history. Progress has been made but there is still more that needs to be done. Racism and discrimination are prevelant, so the education of the masses has a long way to go. Black History Month in my opinion is one of the ways that black history has now become American history and should be celebrated in all schools and institutions of learning.
http://www.hcpl.net/sites/default
