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Plessy v. Ferguson
Homer Plessy was an African American man who refused to sit in a jim crow car. He claimed that by forcing him to be separate was violating his constitutional right. In court he argued that these laws were violating the 13th and 14th amendment. They court's ended up claiming that it was not violating any right that it was merely just a distinction between race and didn’t violate any rights. This court case upheld the constitutionality of the “separate but equal” doctrine. -
Brown v. Board of Education
Oliver Brown was a african american man who had a daughter Linda. Linda had to travel to go to school, there was school right in her community but it was an all white school. LIndas father though it was wrong and unconstitutional that she wasn’t allowed to attend that school. This issue was brought all the way to the supreme court. The Supreme Court's ruling was that the segregated schools were a violation of the 14th Amendment, so this ended the life of the “separate but equal” doctrine. -
Emmett Till
Emmett Till was a African American 14 year old boy who was brutally murdered for flirting with a white women. Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam kidnapped and killed him. They beat him beyond recognition and threw him in the Tallahatchie River. When he was found he was brought to Chicago where he was from. Mamie Bradley, his mother, still wanted open casket funeral, she wanted to show what happened to her son and she wanted his death to mean something. Both men were found not guilty of the murder. -
Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks was an African American women who was a member of the NAACP. On December 1, 1955 she was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama to a white person. Later that evening she was released on bail. Her heroic decision helped to inspire people to start a bus boycott. On December 5, 1955 was the day of Rosa Parks’ trial. It also was the first day of the bus boycott. Rosa Parks became the face of the boycott. -
Bus Boycott
The bus boycott started after Rosa Parks was arrested for not giving up a seat on a bus. The bus boycott was from December 5, 1955 to December 20, 1956. African American people would walk, hitchhike, carpool, and use taxi’s. Three fourths of people who take the bus were African American. During the Bus Boycott African American taxi drivers started to get harassed by police men. The U.S. Supreme court ultimately decided it was unconstitutional so it was ordered to integrate the buses. -
Little Rock Nine
In Little Rock, Arkansas nine African American children enrolled in a previously all white school. There was a lot of negative feeling towards these children. Parents and students were upset about this change. Children left the school so they didn’t have have African American classmates. Governor Orval Faubus of Arkansas called in the national guard to block the African American students from getting in. President Eisenhower then made the decision to had federal troops escort these children in. -
Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom, in Washington D.C.
On the third Anniversary of the day the Brown v. Board of Education ended, and the anniversary of desegregated schools, 30,000 nonviolent protesters from 30 states came and gathered but the Lincoln Memorial. Here at this gathering people prayed Many people came to speak including, Mahalia Jackson, Roy Wilkins and Mordecai Johnson. Among these people was Martin Luther KIng Jr., this was his first address before a national audience. -
Sit-ins
Four African American college students sat down at a counter in a restaurant called Woolworth which was in Greensboro, North Carolina. They asked for service but were refused because they were sitting in the whites only counter. When they were asked to leave they refused and ignored the request and just kept sitting. Sit ins became extremely popular and became a great way to protest peacefully. -
March on Washington
On the steps of the Lincoln Memorial a quarter of a million people gathered including 450 members of congress gathered to listen to speeches of freedom of all people. Some of the speakers were Philip Randolph, Roy Wilkins, and John Lewis. These speeches were captivative and spoke of equality and freedom. Then Martin Luther King Jr. stepped up to the podium and gave his famous speech the “I have a dream” speech. -
The Civil Rights Act of 1964
This act was signed by President Lyndon Johnson. This act outlawed the discrimination of people in public places. This outlawed segregation in places like theatres, restaurants, schools, work places, and hotels. It stopped discriminatory actions in the workplace and in professional settings. These rules also rolled over into places like public swimming pools, libraries, public schools and public parks.
