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On the first day of school at Central High, a white mob gathered in front of the school and Governer Faubus deployed the Arkansas National Guard to prevent the black students from entering. Eisenhower ordered Army troops to protect the black students and they were shielded by federal troops and National Guard for the rest of the year.
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The court case that allowed seperate but equal facilities was the case of Plessy v. Ferguson and later on the Brown v. Education case reinforced it. In Topeka, Kansas, an African American mans daughter was denied admission to an all-white neighborhood school. The case involved five different states and reached the Supreme court. The decision was made that racial segregation in public schools was against the law in every U.S. state.
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On a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, a 42 year old woman refused to give up her seat to a white passenger.The bus driver ordered her to move to the back of the bus. After she argued that this seat was not only reserved for whites, she was arrested for violating a city law that required racial segregation of public buses. She set off a social revolution that day.
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President Eisenhower signed into law the Civil Rights Act in 1957. The law initiated a greater federal role in protecting the rights of African Americans and other minorities.
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Freedom riders were a group of 13 African American and white civil rights activists who rode buses through the South to protest segregation. The Congress of Racial Equality and Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee sponsored the freedom rides. Both African Americans and whites participated in these protests.
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After James Meredith applied to Ole Miss repeatedly, he filed a lawsuit against the university for racial discrimination and the court ruled in his favor. When he arrived at the school under the protection of federal forces, a mob of about 2,000 people blocked his way. Two people were killed and many others were injured that day. The government called out some 31,000 federal forces to enforce order.
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Medgar Evers was an African American civil rights activist from MIssissippi and worked for the NCAAP. Evers was shot and killed by Byron Beckwith, a member of the White Citizens Council. He was taken to a hospital and upon entry, he was denied until it was explained who it was.
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The march shed light on the political and social challenges African Americans conitinued to face across the country. This is where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous speech, "I Have A Dream".
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The Civil Rights act was passed by President Johnson and otlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.
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The march to Selma showed the defiance of sgregational suppression and the desire of African Americans to excercise their right to vote. They were met with violent resistance by state and local authorities. The protestors met their goal and later that year the Voting Rights Act was passed.
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For many years, he was a lawyer and helped win the Brown v. Board of Education court decision. This court decision desegregated schools. Becoming the first black Supreme Court Justice sparked new hope in African Americans.
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King was staying at a hotel in Memphis, Tenessee and went out on the balcony of his room. There he was shot and killed by James Earl Ray. Both whites and blacks mourned over KIng's death but it somehow seperated the two races even more. African Americans saw Martin Luther King as their only hope.
