-
Key
✅ Achievement
✊Protest
⚖️ Legislation/Supreme Court Case
⚔️ Violence by Protesters
❌ Violence by Opposition
🤝 No Violence -
Sweatt v. Painter ⚖️
When Herman Marion Sweatt applied for admission to the University of Texas Law School in 1946, he was automatically rejected because state law restricted access to the university to blacks. Sweatt asked the state courts to order his admission and the university attempted to provide separate but equal facilities for black law students. -
Murder of Emmett Till ❌
Emmett Till, a 14-year-old boy, went to the Bryant store in Mississippi and supposedly whistled at the clerk, Carolyn Bryant. Carolyn's husband and brother-in-law kidnapped and murdered Emmett Till, dumping his body in the Tallahatchie River. -
Keys vs. Carolina Coach Company ⚖️✅
Sarah Keys challenged the segregation policies of the Carolina Coach Company, arguing that they violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The ICC ruled in favor of Keys, stating that segregation on interstate buses was unconstitutional. -
Founding of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference ✅
The SCLC was founded meeting held at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia. The meeting was organized by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders. The primary goal was to coordinate and support nonviolent protests and actions for ending segregation for African Americans in the South. -
Civil Rights Act of 1957 ✅⚖️
President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed this act that marked the first occasion since Reconstruction that the federal government undertook significant legislative action to protect civil rights. The purpose of this act was to protect and promote voting rights for African Americans although it had further significance in the end. -
Greensboro Sit-In ✊🤝
The Greensboro sit-ins were a series of non-violent protests that occurred in Greensboro, NC. When four NC A&T students sat at the segregated counter at the Woolworth's store in Greensboro they were denied service, so they stayed in their seats until the store closed. -
March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom ✊
This is considered one of the largest protests for its time as nearly 250,000 people gathered in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. It aimed to draw attention to continuing challenges and inequalities faced by African Americans, and was also the occasion of MLK Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. -
Mississippi Freedom Summer ✅ 🤝
This was a volunteer campaign with the goal of registering as many African-American voters as possible in Mississippi. It was also designed to grab the nation's attention on the voter oppression blacks were experiencing in Mississippi. -
March from Selma to Montgomery ✅
Thousands of people took this 54-mile route from Selma to Montgomery to get the right for African Americans to vote back. This march was a success as it led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. -
Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. ⚔️❌
Martin Luther King Jr. was shot dead while standing on a balcony outside his second-floor room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee at 6:05 PM on April 4th, 1968. James Earl Ray, a 40-year-old escaped fugitive, confessed to the crime. The assassination brought about major outbreaks of racial violence around the country. -
The Gibbs-Green Tragedy ⚔️
As violent protests were being held at Jackson State University regarding racism, handfuls of law enforcement were called in. Officers fired their shots, killing Phillip Layfayette Gibbs and James Earl Green, and injuring 12 others. -
Swann vs. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools ⚖️
This case dealt with the desegregation plan adopted by Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. Chief Justice Warren Burger rendered the opinion of the court and its decision was unanimous. -
Trail of Broken Treaties March ✊
Native American activists brought caravans from the West Coast to Washington D.C. to demand corrections for years of failed and destructive federal Indian policies. -
Hank Aaron's Home Run Record ✅
Hank Aaron shattered Babe Ruth’s home run record while playing for the Atlanta Braves, recording 755 home runs. Hank Aaron battled racism for his entire baseball career, but this significant event helped change the way people looked at African-Americans in a sports setting. -
University of California Regents vs. Bakke ⚖️
When Allan Bakke had applied for admission to the University of California Medical School at Davis and was rejected twice, he took it to the California courts. When it reached the Supreme Court, the decision was split, and no final agreement was made.