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Executive Order 8802
It banned discrimination on the basis of race in any company that had a defense contract.President Roosevelt wanted the support of the African-American community in World War II and he knew that it was hypocritical to fight Hitler and Japan while tolerating racial discrimination at home. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Order_8802 -
Jackie Robinson’s MLB Debut
On April 15, 1947, 28-year-old Jackie Robinson made his Major League Baseball debut with the Dodgers, against the Boston Braves, in front of more than 25,000 spectators at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackie_Robinson -
Executive Order 9981
It integrated the military; prior to that, black Americans fought in separate platoons and suffered very high casualty rates. This also opened the doors for black service members to rise through the ranks; prior to that, sergeant was about as high as you could go. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Order_9981 -
Brown v. Board of Education Court Case is Decided
Brown v. Board of Education developed from several court cases involving school segregation.The decision was important because it gave the Civil Rights Movement a push - the NAACP's legal success in the case would show the African American community that the society was ready for change. As a result, Brown vs Board of Education had a legitimizing effect that encouraged further action on behalf of the quest for equality
https://www.history.com/news/10-things-you-should-know-about -
Lynching of Emmett Till
Emmett Till was captured by adult white males on the evening of August 28th, 1955. He had supposedly whistled at or attempted to flirt with a white female clerk in a store in Mississippi.There is no evidence that Till did or said anything inappropriate to the woman https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-death-of-emmett-till -
Bus Boycott in Montgomery Begins
The boycott started in Dec 1955 after Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white passenger. She was arrested and E.D. Nixon, Martin Luther King, Jr. and other blacks organized the boycott. The boycott ended in Dec 1956. At that time, the courts ruled that the Alabama public transportation segregation laws were unconstitutional.
https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/montgomery-bus-boycott -
Creation of the SCLC
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) is an American civil rights organization. SCLC was closely associated with its first president, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The SCLC had a large role in the American Civil Rights Movement.The origins of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference lie in the Montgomery Bus Boycott that began after Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give her bus seat to a white man.
https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/montgomery-bus-boycott -
Little Rock Nine First Escorted to School
The Little Rock Nine is the common term applied to the nine African-American students who were prevented from attending Little Rock Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas during 1957.
https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/central-high-school-integration -
Greensboro sit-ins begin
The Greenboro Sit-Ins of 1960 provoked all manner of emotions when they occurred and they remain an important part of civil rights history.Accepting and taking to the limit Martin Luther King’s idea of non-violence and peaceful protests,the sit-in provoked the type of reaction the Civil Rights movement wanted-public condemnation of the treatment of those involved but also continuing to highlight the issue of desegregation in the South https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/the-greensboro- -
Freedom Riders are attacked in Anniston, Alabama
The Freedom Riders were a group of men and women from many different backgrounds and ethnicity who boarded buses, trains and planes headed for the deep South to test the 1960 U.S. Supreme Court ruling outlawing racial segregation in all interstate public facilities. In Anniston the original bus carrying the Freedom Riders was fire bombed. As they struggled to get out of the bus, the group was beaten. They and riders on another bus were attacked by men armed with clubs, bricks, iron pipes. -
Twenty-Fourth Amendment to the Constitution Ratified
Southern states used to charge a poll tax for people trying to vote to deter black voters.They were usually the poorest and couldn't afford the poll tax,therefore,they did not vote.The tax was usually compounded,meaning,the next time to vote would be added to the previous,meaning,someone who didn't pay the last election,now had to pay more.The poll tax was found to be unconstitutional,and poll taxes were prohibited for both state and federal elections.
https://www.usconstitution.net/xconst_Am24 -
James Meredith Enrolls at Ole Miss
He became the first black student at the University of Mississippi, after being barred from entering on September 20.His enrollment, opposed by Governor Ross Barnett,sparked riots on the Oxford campus,which required federal troops and U.S. Marshals,who were sent by President John F. Kennedy.The riots led to a violent clash which left two people dead, including French journalist Paul Guihard,48 soldiers injured and 30 U.S.Marshals https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/ole-miss-integration -
University of Alabama is Integrated
When African American students attempted to desegregate the University of Alabama in June 1963, Alabama’s new governor, flanked by state troopers, literally blocked the door of the enrollment office. The U.S. Supreme Court, however, had declared segregation unconstitutional in 1954’s Brown v. Board of Education, and the executive branch undertook aggressive tactics to enforce the ruling. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stand_in_the_Schoolhouse_Door -
“I Have A Dream” Speech is Delivered
The main theme of the speech was universal equality for all people, and as a wonderful orator, he delivered the speech powerfully and passionately.“I Have a Dream” became the landmark statement of civil rights in America and one of greatest speeches ever performed. He had a dream of all people, of all races and colors and backgrounds, sharing in an America marked by freedom and democracy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Have_a_Dream -
16th Street Baptist Church bombing
The 16th Street Baptist Church bombing was a racially motivated terrorist attack on September 15, 1963 by members of a Ku Klux Klan group in Birmingham, Alabama.The attack was intended to instill fear among Americans who had been demonstrating for an end to segregation and to disrupt court-ordered integration of public schools. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/videos/category/history/remembering-the-birmingham-church-bombing/ -
Signing of the Civil Rights Act
The act bans discrimination because of a person's color, race, origin,religion,or sex;it primarily protects the rights of African Americans and other minorities.Major features of the Civil Rights Act include the freedom to vote and use hotels, restaurants, theaters, parks, and all other public places.The law also encouraged the desegregation of public schools and authorized the withdrawal of federal funds from programs practicing discrimination.
https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?doc=97 -
March on Selma Begins
The Selma march was a march that marked the political and emotional peak of the American civil rights movement. ,The March on Selma Begins after the launched by Amelia Boynton Robinson and her husband. Robinson brought many prominent leaders of the American Civil Rights Movement to Selma, including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Jim Bevel and Hosea Williams. https://www.wbaltv.com/article/today-in-history-for-march-21-mlk-begins-march-from-selma-to-montgomery/26894449 -
Signing of the Voting Rights Act
The Act prohibited states from imposing any "voting qualification or prerequisite to voting, or standard, practice, or procedure to deny the right of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race or color." Specifically, Congress intended the Act to outlaw the practice of requiring otherwise qualified voters to pass literacy tests in order to register to vote https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=false&doc=100 -
Loving v. Virginia Court Case is Decided
Loving vs Virginia is a legal case decided on June 12 1967, in which the U.S. Supreme Court called it as unconstitutional under the equal protection and due process clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment. https://www.history.com/topics/civil-rights-movement/loving-v-virginia -
Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
My theory is that he accomplished his job with exposing American racism which lead to the enactment Civil Rights legislation. Four years later, "Higher powers" viewed MLK Jr. as a threat to the status quo. After King's death, the Democrats wilted and the GOP took over.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Martin_Luther_King_Jr.
