The Civil Rights Movement

Brown v. Board of Education

May 17, 1954

Linda Brown, an African American student was denied admission to the school in her neighborhood and told to go to the all-black school which was all the way across town, all because of her skin color. Her parents and the NAACP turned to the school board and sued them. The Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitutional and that it violated the equal protection clause in the fourteenth amendment. White southerners were not happy with the court ruling and resisted by defending segregation.

The Montgomery Bus Boycott

Dec 5, 1955

After the arrest of Rosa Parks, African Americans formed the Montgomery Improvement Assosiation which they appointed Martin Luther King Jr. as their leader. Their goal was to bring an end to segregation. Martin Luther King Jr. made a speech on this day, where he preached the idealogy of nonviolence from Mohandas Gandhi. King Jr. motivated African Americans to boycott peacefully, and it ended up a success, after a year, the Supreme Court declared that segregation on buses was unconstitutional.

The Sit-In Movement

Feb 1, 1956

The Student Nonviolence Coordinating Committee started this movement. It started off with 4 African American students who fought for desegregation and voter registration. They sat at white-only lunch counters at a department store until they were treated the same as the white students. As the days ticked by, more and more African American students in different cities and states started doing this to be part of the movement and to bring change.

Little Rock 9

Sep 4, 1957

9 African American students were allowed admission into Central High, which had 2,000 white students. The governor, who defended white supremacy and wanted to win the reelection sent troops from the National Guard to not allow the 9 students in. Eisenhower tried to get the troops removed but violence broke out, as a result he sent the Army to Little Rock and they stayed for the whole school year. However, officials still resisted integration
https://time.com/4948704/little-rock-nine-anniversary/

The Freedom Riders

May 4, 1961

Freedom Riders were teams of African Americans and white volunteers who traveled together on buses in the South to gather attention and as a big public refusal to segregation. The Freedom Riders ,unfortunately, faced a lot of violence. There was a firebomb thrown at the bus, thankfully no one died. Another time, the volunteers were faced with a white mob who beat them the riders with chains and lead pipes.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/18/us/politics/freedom-riders-john-lewis-work.html

James Meredith and the Desegregation of Universities

Oct 1, 1962

James Meredith is an African American veteran who applied to transfer to University of Mississippi, but was denied admission, which went against the Supreme Court ruling that ended segregated education. JFK sent 500 marshals to the school to escort Meredith to campus, but a riot broke out because of angry white people. 160 marshals were injured and JFK sent thousands of troops to escort Meredith. Meredith graduated in August of 1963 despite being ridiculed and harassed by many in school

March on Washington

Aug 28, 1963

JFK was pushing for the passing of the Civil Rights Bill through Congress, and so because it was going to be a stressful and difficult journey, Martin Luther King Jr. and 200,000 marched along Washington to show their massed public support of the bill. This is the event where King Jr. delivered his widely known speech, "I have a Dream". Soon after, the bill was passed.
https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/march-on-washington
https://www.naacp.org/nmaahc-film-march-washington-history/

Malcolm X and the Civil Rights Movement

Feb 21, 1965

Malcolm X was an African American Muslim minister who fought for equality, but with a different approach. He believed in nonviolence, but also thought African Americans should practice self-defense. He criticized the white society and the mainstream civil rights movement. He was a member of the Nation of Islam, but when he broke it off and criticized the organization, he was assassinated by members of the organization. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Malcolm-X

Voting Rights Among Minorities

Aug 3, 1965

Despite the Civil Rights Bill, African Americans and other minorities still could not vote. The 24th amendment tried to relieve some of the issues with poll taxes,but southern white people would beat SCLC and SNCC members who tried to vote. The Selma March was protest marchers for voting rights. Sheriff Jim Clark armed white citizens who went and attacked the protestors, along with state troopers. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed which sent federal examiners to register qualified voters

Urban Problems and Black Panthers

Oct 15, 1969

A large number of African Americans face racism, trapped in poverty had low-paying jobs and no hope of promotion. There were high rates of poverty, illness, infant mortality, crime, single-parent households, and more students were dropping out of school and falling into juvenile delinquency. The Black Panthers were followers of Malcolm X founded in October, they were militant African American leaders who believed that they should arm themselves to force white leaders to grant them equal rights