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Emmett Till
Emmet Till who was visiting family in Mississippi was kidnapped and beaten to death for allegedly whistling at a White women. The men put on trial for committing the brutal crime boasted about it. -
"Little Rock Nine"
A group of African American students enrolled in Little Rock Central High School. These nine students were blocked from entering the high school which was racially segregated. At a later date Eisenhower then sent in federal troops allowing the student to enter -
James Meredith
James Meredith was a civil rights activist and author. He was the first African American to enroll at the university of Mississippi. Riots broke out leaving to people dead led to James being escorted into school by federal marshals. -
Civil Rights Act
President Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination of all kinds based on race, color, religion, or national origin. The law also provides the federal government with the powers to enforce desegregation. -
March on Montgomery
Blacks started a march to Montgomery in support of voting rights but were stopped at the Pettus Bridge by a police blockade. Fifty marchers were hospitalized after police used tear gas, whips, and clubs against them. The march is considered the catalyst for pushing through the voting rights act five months later. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
Congress passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965, making it easier for Southern blacks to register to vote. Literacy tests, poll taxes, and other such requirements that were used to restrict black voting became illegal -
Regents of University of California v. Bakke
In Regents of University of California v. Bakke (1978), the Supreme Court ruled that a university's use of racial "quotas" in its admissions process was unconstitutional, but a school's use of "affirmative action" to accept more minority applicants was constitutional in some circumstances. -
Colin Powell
Colin Powell becomes the first African American U.S. Secretary of State. This was a small mark on history but shows the slow progression of civil rights for african anericans
