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13th Amendment
Abolishing Slavery in the United States -
14th Amendment
Constitutional amendment forbids any state from depriving citizens of their rights and privileges and defines citizenship -
15th Amendment
Prohibits the federal and state governments from denying a citizen the right to vote based on that citizen's "race, color, or previous condition of servitude. -
Mendez vs. Westminster School District of Orange County
1947 federal court case that challenged racial segregation in Orange County, California schools -
Jackie Robinson joins Brooklyn Dodgers
Pasadena resident and UCLA alum Robinson breaks the color barrier by being the first black to play major league baseball in modern times -
Armed forces integrated
Pres. Truman issues executive order requiring integrated units in the armed forces -
Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas
Court declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students to be unconstitutional -
March on Washington
More than 200,000 blacks and whites gather before Lincoln Memorial to hear speeches and protest racial injustice -
Bombing of Birmingham church
4 black girls are killed by bomb planted in church -
Civil Rights Act passed
Overcoming Senate filibuster, Congress passes law forbidding racial discrimination in many areas of life, including hotels, voting, employment, and schools -
Malcolm X assassinated
Rejecting integration and nonviolence, Malcolm splits off from Elijah Muhammad's Black Muslims and is killed by black opponents -
Selma to Montgomery march
King leads 54-mile march to support black voter registration. Despite attacks from police and interference from Gov. Wallace, marchers reach Montgomery. Pres. Johnson addresses nation in support of marchers -
Voting Rights Act approved
After passage, southern black voter registration grows by over 50% and black officials are elected to various positions. In Mississippi, black voter registration grew from 7% to 67% -
Watts Riots
In first of more than 100 riots, Los Angeles black suburb erupts in riots, burning, looting, and 34 deaths -
King assassinated
While supporting sanitation workers' strike which had been marred by violence in Memphis, King is shot by James Earl Ray. Riots result in 125 cities -
Los Angeles riots
Following acquittal of officers who beat Rodney King, 600 buildings are torched and 50 people killed, and $1 billion in damage recorded