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Brown v. Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education was a court case that desegregated schools in America. The court case started on December 9, 1952, and was passed on May 17, 1954. Segregation in school was deemed unconstitutional and in violation of the 14th Amendment. It took down the precedent set by Plessy v. Ferguson that stated, “separate but equal.” It was concluded by Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren and allowed for the intermingling of white students and students of color in America. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
Political and social protest which involved African American protestors to sit in all-white sections of buses and trains that were apart of Montgomery’s public transit system, these protests aimed to desegregate the public transit system of Montgomery and the rest of the country, they were successful. -
Rosa Parks
In 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give her seat on a bus to a white man in Montgomery, Alabama. Her act of defiance sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott. As she grew in fame, she was called "the mother of the civil rights movement." Later, Rosa moved to Detroit because of the harassment she received. She founded the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self-Development in 1987, to serve the youth of Detroit. Much later in life, she was given the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian honor. -
The Little Rock Nine
Nine African American students started classes at Little Rock Central High School. Before these nine students, the school had been entirely white. The students were met with much opposition, harassment, and violence. The National Guard and then U.S. soldiers were called in to protect them. Eight of the nine students completed the school year. -
Ruby Bridges
On November 14th, 1960, at William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans, after a recent court hearing ruling that all schools in the New Orlean and surrounding areas were to be desegregated, Ruby and her family were one of the very first to do this, and thus, a new icon for the civil rights movement was born. In 1999 she established the Ruby Bridges Foundation, which targeted prejudice and racism in all parts of America. -
Whitney Young
Whitney Young was a pioneer during the Civil Rights Movement. Not only was he an organizer of the March on Washington, but he also did many other important things. He was an advisor for JFK, Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard M. Nixon. He was the founder of the Marshall Plan and played a vital role as the coauthor of Lyndon B. Johnsons war on poverty, as well as provide aid to many poor Americans. He played key parts in America’s history but sadly passed away March 11, 1971. -
Albany Movement
The first of the movements in the Civil Rights era to have its main objective to desegregate an entire town or community, these protests involved protestors moving in the streets protesting segregation in general, led by MLK himself, in the end however, the protestors unfortunately did not achieve their goal despite their best efforts. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson. The act was a bigger version of what President Kennedy had wanted to enact. It allowed the federal government to prevent racial discrimination in voting, employment, and other public places. -
The Chicago Freedom Movement
The movement was formed to protest segregated housing, education, employment, and health inequalities based on racism. It consisted of multiple rallies, marches, and boycotts addressing the many issues facing black Chicago residents. The Chicago Freedom Movement went through 1967 and inspired the Fair Housing Act, passed in 1969. -
March on Washington
One of the largest political rallies for civil rights in human history, the famous event where Martin Luther King Jr delivered his even more famous speech, “I Have a Dream” it was one of most pivotal moments of the entire civil rights movement. -
Bloody Sunday
Bloody Sunday was one of a series of marches under the Selma Movement, with Bloody Sunday being the most unjust and brutal, peaceful protestors were subject to beatings from police and their dogs, high pressure water hoses with the intent to cause pain, and much more. Thankfully, this, along with the other marches in this movement, were successful in what they wanted to achieve. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson. It brought down the barriers that didn’t allow African Americans to vote on a national level. African Americans were given a right to vote under the 15th Amendment but almost never could because of the strict conditions and tests the had to pass. This act abolished those processes and allowed African Americans to freely vote in the United States. -
The Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. was shot and killed while standing on the second-floor balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. His assassination sparked riots and violence in many cities nationwide. King’s death caused Congress to pass the Fair Housing Act in his honor. -
Voting Right Act of 1970
When the original Voting Rights act of 1965 was passed, it allowed special provisions at polls that made it easier for African American voters to vote. When The Voting Rights Act Amendments of 1970 were passed, it extended the provisions at voting stations by 5 years, maintaining easy voting for African Americans. It also provided other things such as an extended bailout provisions, establishing a series of rules for voter registration and introduced absentee voting. -
Congressional Black Caucus is Established
The Congressional Black Caucus was established to ensure equal rights and opportunity to Black Americans. President Nixon refused to meet with the group once it was created; only after much media attention he met with them to discuss the eradication of racism, promote African Americans in government positions, and to talk about housing. -
Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education
The achievement which both Rosa Parks and Ruby Bridges, (along with many, many other protestors in many marches) worked so hard for, the desegregation of schools and buses, with this particular one being school buses. -
Boston Schools Desegregated
This was one of the technically unnamed acts that also came alongside the Swann v. CMBE , this along with many fueled the government to end segregation as a whole. -
Civil Rights Act of 1975
The Civil Rights Act of 1975, also known as The Age Discrimination Act of 1975, was a bill that was passed that prohibited age discrimination in programs or activities that received federal financial assistance. For example, schools and colleges receive federal financial assistance. Now people of certain ages cannot be blocked from receiving federal financial assistance in certain activities and programs in their day-to-day lives. -
Black History Month Official Recognition
The very first official February that was dedicated to black history was finally recognized, this is one of the many holidays that came from the civil rights movement. -
University of California Regents v. Bakke
The University of California, in their affirmative action program, had reserved 16 percent of its admission for minority applicants. Allan Bakke was a white man from California that had unsuccessfully applied twice to medical school. He felt he was experiencing “reverse discrimination” which violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and part of the Fourteenth Amendment. The court ruled affirmative action a legal way to deal with discrimination but rejected the use of racial quotas. -
Free South Africa Movement
Due to the actions of Civil Rights Activists in America, this led to the start of the Free South Africa Movement. People in Africa were inspired by Americans, and this led to Nelson Mandela rising to lead the revolt against Apartheid. Apartheid was racial segregation in Africa that was thankfully abolished due to the efforts of Nelson Mandela and the people of South Africa. -
Civil Rights Act of 1990
The Civil Rights Act of 1990 was a bill that if passed, would make it easier for people to win discrimination cases due to their race or sex. This bill was proposed by Senator Edward Kennedy on February 7, 1990. This bill could have been passed but on October 22, 1990, it was vetoed by President Bush. President Bush thought it would introduce complicated legal issues and would have forced destructive quotas. It almost passed again but lost the majority vote by 1 vote on October 24 of that year. -
The Election of Barack Obama
On November 4, 2008, Barack Obama, an African American from Hawaii, was elected as the nation’s 44th president. He made history as the first African American president elected in the United States. Obama was the fourth president to receive the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009. He served as president for two terms.