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The 14th Amendment to the Constitution.
Black people equal protection under the law -
The 15th Amendment granted Black American men the right to vote.
Still, many white Americans, especially those in the South, were unhappy that people they’d once enslaved were now on a more-or-less equal playing field. -
War-related work was booming
Most Black Americans weren’t given the better paying jobs. They were also discouraged from joining the military. -
President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 8802
It opened national defense jobs and other government jobs to all Americans regardless of race, creed, color or national origin. -
Executive Order 9981 to end discrimination in the military.
These events helped set the stage for grass-roots initiatives to enact racial equality legislation and incite the civil rights movement. -
The civil rights movement was a struggle for social justice
Black Americans to gain equal rights under the law in the United States. -
The civil rights movement gained momentum when the United States Supreme Court made segregation illegal in public schools in the case of Brown v. Board of Education.
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A 42-year-old woman named Rosa Parks found a seat on a Montgomery, Alabama bus after work.
Segregation laws at the time stated Black passengers must sit in designated seats at the back of the bus, and Parks had complied. -
Civil Rights Act
Even though all Americans had gained the right to vote, many southern states made it difficult for Black citizens. They often required prospective voters of color to take literacy tests that were confusing, misleading and nearly impossible to pass. -
King’s “I Have a Dream” speech galvanized the national civil rights movement and became a slogan for equality and freedom.
Arguably one of the most famous events of the civil rights movement took place on August 28, 1963: the March on Washington. It was organized and attended by civil rights leaders such as A. Philip Randolph, Bayard Rustin and Martin Luther King Jr. -
Civil rights leader and Nobel Peace Prize recipient Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on his hotel room's balcony.
Emotionally-charged looting and riots followed, putting even more pressure on the Johnson administration to push through additional civil rights laws. -
The Fair Housing Act became law on April 11
Just days after King’s assassination. It prevented housing discrimination based on race, sex, national origin and religion. It was also the last legislation enacted during the civil rights era.
