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This court case struck down a previous ruling from Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) which had allowed for segregation as long as separate areas were equal. The court’s unanimous decision ruled that “separate educational facilities are inherently unequal” and mandated the integration of schools that had been previously segregated by race. The introduction of Black students into previously all-White schools was often met with resistance from local populations and even state governors. -
Citizens' Councils were formed to counteract activists pushing for civil rights. They were especially opposed to racial integration of schools and efforts to encourage Black people to vote. They pursued their goals through boycotts, publications, and sometimes violence. The first chapter was founded in Indianola, Mississippi. Peak membership reached 60,000 people. -
The Montgomery Bus Boycott was organized by Martin Luther King Jr. and other leaders in response to the arrest of Rosa Parks. Parks refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery city bus to a White man. This violated segregated bussing policies that were enforced in Montgomery and elsewhere. The boycott lasted over a year and eventually succeeded when the Supreme Court required busses be integrated. -
The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) was a grass roots civil rights organization founded in North Carolina. Unlike the NAACP which specialized in legal advocacy, the SNCC promoted direct action campaigns such as sit ins, freedom rides, marches, and voter registration campaigns. The SNCC also became more radical than other civil rights organizations. -
While imprisoned for nonviolent protest activities, Martin Luther King Jr. wrote this open letter to fellow clergymen, particularly White clergymen who criticized him for being too radical. King's letter contains one of the most artful illustrations of the plight of Black Americans that has ever been written. He also explains why activists shouldn't wait, why unjust laws can be broken, and why America is currently flawed, but purposed to be better than it is at present. -
The March on Washington was a civil rights protest seeking to promote the legal and economic position of Black Americans. The march included nearly 300,000 people and ended at the Washington Monument. Many notable leaders and artists spoke at the event, including Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, John Lewis, and Martin Luther King Jr. -
This was a speech delivered by Malcolm X at a church in Cleveland. Malcolm X was a Muslim, a Black Nationalist, and one of the more radical figures in the Civil Rights Movement. His speech exhorts Black people to exercise their right to vote. When the right to vote is repeatedly denied, Malcolm prescribed armed revolution as the best alternative. -
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed discrimination on the basis of race and other categories. It attacked efforts to maintain school segregation. It also empowered the government to better enforce the Fourteenth Amendment (equal protection under the law) and the Fifteenth Amendment (voting rights of citizens). -
Civil Rights activists intended to march from Selma to Montgomery Alabama to protest the killing of Jimmie Lee Jackson by a White police officer. The peaceful protesters were stopped by Alabama police at the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Those who attempted to cross the bridge were violently beaten back. The bloody event was televised and helped garner sympathy for the movement. With the help of federal troops, the marchers returned and successfully crossed the bridge two weeks later. -
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 further guaranteed the Fifteenth Amendment by outlawing certain means of voter discrimination. Among the practices it stuck down were poll taxes and literacy tests designed to disenfranchise minority voters. The law required bilingual ballots be provided and authorized the federal government to oversee changes to a state's election procedures. -
James Meredith, the first Black American to attend the University of Mississippi, planned a "march against fear" to protest inequities and encourage Black voter registration. Meredith was shot on the second day of his march by a White sniper. After the shooting, other civil rights leaders rose up to continue the march. Three weeks later, 15,000 marchers and a recovering James Meredith reached the intended target of Jackson, Mississippi. -
Loving v. Virginia concerned the marriage of a White man (Richard Loving) and his wife, a Black woman (Mildred Jeter). Interracial marriage was illegal in Virginia under the Act to Preserve Racial Integrity (1924). The Lovings were arrested multiple times for breaking this law. The ACLU defended the Lovings in the Supreme Court, which unanimously ruled that laws banning interracial marriage violated the 14th amendment, and were thus unconstitutional. -
The Fair Housing Act made it illegal to discriminate on the basis of race and other categories when renting, selling, or lending money to buy property. This act also made it illegal to intimidate or coerce someone into leaving any particular neighborhood where they lived. This act is widely considered the last legal victory of the Civil Rights Movement.