Civil Rights Movement

By rigby

  • Morgan v. Virginia

    A Supreme Court Decision that declared segregation unconstitutional on commercial interstate buses.

  • Military Desegregation - Executive Order 9981

    Harry S. Truman signed this executive order that not only desegregated the armed forces, but also banned discrimination on the basis of race and ensured equal treatment (in theory).

  • Brown v. Board of Education

    A Supreme Court Decision that declared segregation unconstitutional in public schools, even if the separate schools were equal.

  • Montgomery Bus Boycott

    A boycott of the bus system in Montgomery against segregation, inspired by the actions of Rosa Parks and lasting slightly over a year.

  • Greensboro Sit-ins

    The Greensboro Sit-ins were a series of sit-ins at a segregated lunch counter in Woolworth Store in Greensboro, North Carolina. They started when four african-americans were refused service because they were sat at the "wrong end" of the counter.

  • Freedom Rides

    The Freedom Rides were a series of rides on public transportation to protest the non-enforcement of the Morgan v. Virginia decision that banned discrimination.

  • March on Washington

    The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom was a march of over 200,000 people on Washington D.C. to protest for civil rights of african-americans. Also where MLK Jr delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech.

  • Selma to Montgomery Marches

    A series of three Marches along the 54-mile road from Selma to Montgomery in protest of the suppression of african-american voters. The unarmed protesters were beaten and gassed by law enforcement officers in an event known as "Bloody Sunday".

  • Voting Rights Act

    A piece of federal legislation that prohibited racial discrimination like poll taxes and literacy tests in the voting process. Signed by Lyndon B. Johnson.

  • Watts Rights

    A string of violence, looting, and fires that broke out in Los Angeles after police arrested an African-American man named Marquette Frye under suspicion of drunk driving. The events lasted for six days and killed 34 people.

  • "Black Power" Term Coined

    In a speech in Seattle, Stokely Carmichael, the leader of the SNCC, coined the term "Black Power". This marks a shift in the Civil Rights movement towards a focus on black unity and black pride.

  • Loving v. Virginia

    A Supreme Court decision that prohibited the banning of interracial marriage.

  • Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

    A shooting by James Earl Ray at 6:01 p.m., while King was on a second floor balcony at the Lorraine Hotel that sparked a wave of race riots throughout the country.

  • Fair Housing Act

    A part of the 1968 Civil Rights Act that banned discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of homes on the basis of race as well as other criteria.

  • The Poor People's Campaign

    An event in which 3,000 people set up a protest camp for six weeks in order to support a set of demands that they sent to Congress to gain economic and human rights for all poor people. Set up by MLK Jr., but carried out by SCLC after his assassination.

  • Jackson State Killings

    Police in Mississippi opened fire on a group of students who were African-Americans at Jackson State University, killing two of them and injuring twelve.