-
Creation of the NAACP
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was established to fight for the rights of Colored people. The NAACP was so important to the civil rights movement since they gave African Americans the institutional support to fight racial injustice. The organization contributed to civil rights legislation by fighting for them legally, lobbying efforts, and creating civil rights activism. -
Brown vs Board of Education
The supreme court decided to combine several cases and issue a general ruling on segregation in schools. One of these cases involved Linda Brown who was a young black woman that was denied admission into her neighborhood school because of her race. The NAACP took this to the supreme court and they ruled unanimously that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. This event was the main reason that segregation was removed in public school systems, including universities. -
The Sit in Movement
Sit-ins were nonviolent protests made by African American people where they would sit in a spot reserved for white people until they were served. These sit-ins took place at stores, restaurants, hotels, and movie theaters. These sit-ins brought many civil rights issues to the public and pressured businesses to change their policies on segregation, eventually leading to the civil rights act of 1964. -
March on Washington
More than 200,000 demonstrators met up at the nations capital to protest. This event built momentum for the civil rights bill that was already being debated in Congress. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The civil rights bills of 1964 was the most comprehensive civil rights law ever enacted by the government. The law made segregation illegal in most places and banned racial discrimination in places that served the public. This event was the most important civil rights document ever approved and it served as a foundation for more civil rights legislation.