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Desegregation of the Armed Forces
During WWII African Americans showed their abilities in combat and earned great recognition for their efforts. In the light of there many great achievements President Truman called to Congress to desegregate the forces.This was the first step toward the desegregation in the United States of America. -
Brown vs. Board of Eduaction
Brown vs. Board of Education was a series of cases eventually amking its way to the Suspreme Court. Relying on sociological tests, the plantiffs argued that segregated school systems had a tendency to make black children feel inferior to white children, and a system should not be legally permissible. Chief Justice Warren was able to bring all of the Justices to agree to support a unanimous decision declaring segregation in public schools unconstitutional. -
Emmett Till
Fourteen year old Emmett Till was visiting relatives in Money, Mississippi when he reportedly flirted with a white cashier at a grocery store. Four days later, two white men kidnapped Till, beat him and shot him in the head. The men were tried for murder, but an all-white, male jury acquitted them. Till's murder and open casket funeral galvanized the emerging Civil Rights Movement. The two men later admitted to murdering Till. -
Rose Parks
Civil rights activist Rosa Parks refused to surrender her seat to a white passenger on a Montgomery, Alabama bus spurred a city-wide boycott. The city of Montgomery had no choice but to lift the law requiring segregation on public buses. Rosa Parks received many accolades during her lifetime, including the NAACP's highest award. -
Little Rock 9
The Little Rock Nine was a group of nine African American students enrolled in Little Rock Central High School in 1957. Their enrollment was followed by the Little Rock Crisis, where the students were prevented from entering the racially segregated school by Orval Faubus. This integration of school was one of the big civil rights movements in education after Brown vs. Board of Education -
Freedom Rider
Freedom Riders were civil rights activists who rode interstate buses into the segregated southern United States in 1961+ to challenge the non-enforcement of the United States Supreme Court that ruled that segregated public buses were unconstitutional. The Southern states had ignored the rulings and the federal government did nothing to enforce them. -
March On Washington
More than 200,000 Americans gathered in Washington, D.C. for a political rally known as the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The event was designed to shed light on the political and social challenges African Americans continued to face across the country. The march, which became a key moment in the growing struggle for civil rights in the United States, culminated in Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. -
24th Amendment
Before the 24th Amendment people had to pay a tax before being able to vote. For many Americans, focused on the African American population, paying this tax was difficult. The 24th Amendment halted the taxes and any payment required before voting. "The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election... shall not be compelled pay any poll tax or other tax." In other words no citizen could be denied the right to vote -
Civil rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 ended segregation in public places and banned employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin. It is considered one of the greatest legislative achievements of the civil rights movement. It survived strong opposition from southern members of Congress. It was then signed into law by Lyndon B. Johnson. -
Malcolm X Assassination
On February 21, 1965, one week after his home was firebombed, Malcolm X was shot to death by Nation of Islam members while speaking at a rally of his organization in New York City. Articulate, passionate and a naturally gifted and inspirational orator, Malcolm X exhorted blacks to cast off the shackles of racism "by any means necessary," including violence. -
Selma March
Martin Luther King Jr.’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) made Selma Alabama the focus of its efforts to register black voters in the South. That March, protesters attempting to march from Selma to the state capital of Montgomery were met with violent resistance by state and local authorities. The historic march helped raise awareness of the troubles faced by black voters in the South, and the need for a Voting Rights Act, passed later that year. -
Excutive Order 11246
Executive Order 11246, signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson to established requirements for non-discriminatory practices in hiring and employment on the part of U.S. government contractors. -
Black Panthers
Huey Newton and Bobby Seale founded the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense. The Panthers practiced militant self-defense of minority communities against the U.S. government, and fought to create socialism through mass organizing and community based programs. The Panthers are well known for their violence, but they didn't want integration. They believed in separate but equal. -
Assassination of MLK
On the evening of his assassination, Martin Luther King delivered what would be his last speech, known as the “I’ve been to the mountaintop” speech, from within the Mason Temple, headquarters of the Pentecost. King, with his friend, Reverend Abernathy, was staying at the Lorraine Motel. King stepped out onto the second floor balcony and was shot by a sniper. The single bullet shattered his jaw, broke his neck and severed his jugular vein. He was pronounced dead soon at 7. He was 39 years old. -
Civil Rights Act of 1968
The Civil Rights Act signed into law in April 1968 prohibited discrimination concerning the sale, rental and financing of housing based on race, religion, national origin and sex. It was a follow-up to the Act 1964, the bill was the subject of debate in the Senate, but was passed by the House of Representatives in the time after the assassination of Martin Luther King.
