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Jim Crow Laws
Jim Crow Laws were passed in most southern states in the civil was era. These laws targeted African Americans. They consisted of legal and social restrictions that were ment to separate African Americans from white Americans. When African Americans were given more rights, like the oppertunity to vote, many white southerners reacted nagatively. They believed that whites were superior to blacks and that was the platform on which these laws were based. -
Brown vs. Board of Education
Was a Lawsuit that Oliver Brown filed against the Topeka Board of Education. He did this because the "white schools" would not except his daughter on behalf of the fact that she was an African American. His daughter had thus been forced to go to a school that was much farther away from where they lived and the conditions of that school were not the same as the "white schools". The court ruled that segregation in schools was unconstitutional and the vote was unanimous with all nine members. -
Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott
Rosa Parks, an African American seamstress, refused to give up her seat on the bus in December of 1955. In those days it was customary for an African American passenger to give up his or her seat on the bus so that a white passenger could sit. Yet, Rosa Parks did not do this and it led to her arrest. That arrest sparked an uprize in protests including the Montgomery bus boycott which started on December 5th. About 90% of the black passengers who road the bus regularly participated. -
Little Rock Crisis
In 1954, the supreme cort ruled that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. Arkansas said that they would comply with this ruling, and had nine African American students that Volanteered to go to an all white school. Yet on the day that school started, protests broke out. Many parents, students, and others gathered in a mob to prevent access to the school. The students had to give up and go home untill Eisenhower ordered 1,000 paratroopers to escort the students inside the school. -
24th Amendment
This amendment abolished the use of poll taxes. Poll taxes had been used in many southern areas to prevent African Americans from voting. The tax was an amount that rich citizens could pay, but which many black Americans could not afford to pay. Also, the tax would increase if someone had not voted one year and did vote the next. When this tax was abolished it became much easier for African Americans to vote. -
Watts Race Riots
Was a riot that broke out in the Watts neighborhood in Los Angeles. A police officer pulled over two African American boys on moterbikes. They were suspected of drunk driving, and a crowd of onlookers formed at the scene. The debate got heated and the police started using their batons which started an upheavel in the crowds. Soon after this, rioting occured which lasted for six days and it caused quite a bit of damage. -
Fair Housing Act
This was a law that prohibited discrimination based apone race, religion, nationality, or gender. This law aplied to house sales, property loans, and so on. This law was also helpful in the fight for civil rights, and it protected African Americans from discrimination with regards to house sales. This act also helped protect other minorities that had been disrimintated against and it ordered payment of damages to any victims.
