-
montgomery bus boycot
rosa parks got arrested after not giving up her seat for a white man to sit down (as required as a city law) which triggers a bus boycot -
lunch counter protest
10 men sat at a "whites only" counter in Rock Hill, South Carolina in a protest against segregation. They were arrested and nine ("The Friendship Nine") were sentenced to 30 days labor on a chain gang. -
Freedom riders oppose segregation
Blacks and whites take buses to the South to protest bus station segregation. Many are greeted with riots and beatings -
"Letter from Birmingham jail"
In response to white ministers who urge him to stop causing disturbances, King issues articulate statement of nonviolent resistance to wrongs of American society -
Desegregation drive in Birmingham
King and SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference) oppose local laws that support segregation. Riots, fire-bombing, and police are used against protestors -
Medgar Evers murdered
Head of Mississippi NAACP is shot outside his home on the same night that Pres. Kennedy addresses the nation on race, asking "Are we to say to the world...that this is a land of the free except for Negroes" -
Gov. Wallace stops desegregation of the University of Alabama
Standing in the schoolhouse door and promising segregation "today, tomorrow, and forever," Wallace is forced by Pres. Kennedy to allow blacks to enroll -
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
gave a sepach called "I Have a Dream"
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gives the historic "I Have a Dream" speach in front of hundreds of thousands in the march of washington -
March on Washington
More than 200,000 blacks and whites gather before Lincoln Memorial to hear speeches (including King's "I Have a Dream") and protest racial injustice -
Bombing of Birmingham church
4 black girls are killed by bomb planted in church -
24th Amendment passed
Poll tax (which had been used to prevent blacks from voting) outlawed. Black voter registration increases and candidates begin to turn away from white supremacy views in attempt to attract black voters -
Civil Rights Act passed
Overcoming Senate filibuster, Congress passes law forbidding racial discrimination in many areas of life, including hotels, voting, employment, and schools -
Mississippi Summer Freedom Project
Civil rights workers seek to register blacks to vote. 3 are killed and many black homes and churches are burned. National outrage helps pass civil rights legislation -
Selma to Montgomery march
King leads 54-mile march to support black voter registration. Despite attacks from police and interference from Gov. Wallace, marchers reach Montgomery. Pres. Johnson addresses nation in support of marchers -
Race riots in Detroit and Newark
Worst riots in U.S. history results in 43 deaths in Detroit and federal troops being called out to restore order