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Period: to
1950s
The civil rights themes in the 1950s were to end segregation in schools, parks, restaurants, busses and all public places. Voting rights were also addressed. The Montgomery Improvement Association and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference were formed to help organize and unify the movement. Dr King became a prominent, well respected leader of the Civil Rights Movement. This decade is important because it kicked off the Civil Rights Movement. -
Sweatt v Painter (Achievement, Legislation/Supreme Court Case)
Sweatt v Painter is a Supreme Court Case that found it unconstitutional to deny black students entry to all white public graduate schools if none exist for black students. Sweatt was admitted into the University of TX School of Law based on the Equal Protection Clause. -
Emmett Tills Murder (Violence by Opposition)
Emmett Till was a 14 year old African American boy who was kidnapped, beaten and shot in the head, then thrown in the Tallahatchie River in Mississippi. He was killed by two white men for allegedly flirting with one of their wives earlier that day. His funeral brought a lot of attention to the racial injustice in the South. JET magazine ran a story of his funeral and printed a picture of his mutilated body in an open casket. This event created momentum for the Civil Right's Movement. -
Keys v Carolina Coach (Achievement, Legislation/Supreme Court Case)
This was a big victory for the Civil Rights Movement and inspired more grassroots, nonviolent activism. The Supreme Court ruled that the Interstate Commerce Act forbids segregation of busses traveling across state lines. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott (Achievement, Protest, Legislation/Supreme Court Case, No violence)
The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a 13 month mass protest and boycott sparked by the arrest of Rosa Parks for refusing to sit at the back of the bus. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr lead the Montgomery Improvement Association and helped guide the boycott. King taught the practice of massive, nonviolent civil disobedience. This is considered the first US demonstration against segregation that resulted in a US Supreme Court Ruling that it is unconstitutional to segregate people by race on public busses. -
Creation of the Montgomery Improvement Association (Achievement)
The Montgomery Improvement Association was created to fight for civil rights for African Americans with an emphasis on desegregating the public busses in Montgomery. Dr King was the leader and it gave him a platform to do amazing things in the future. -
Founding of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (Achievement)
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference was founded after the Montgomery Improvement Associations (MIA) successful boycott of the Montgomery bus system. It is a Civil Rights organization to stand united with the MIA to better organize Civil Right events across the South. It was founded by Dr. King, Ralph Abernathy, Bayard Rustin and Fred Shuttlesworth. -
Civil Rights Act of 1957 (Achievement, Legislation/Supreme Court Case)
This Act enabled federal prosecutors the power to get court injunctions against the intervention of a persons right to vote, and created the Civil Rights Section of the Justice Department. The Act did not create new rights but protects rights that already exist. -
Little Rock Nine Crisis (Achievement, Protest, Violence by Opposition)
Following the Brown V Board of Education ruling that it is unconstitutional for segregate public schools, nine African American students enrolled at Central High School in Little Rock, AR. Governor Faubus send the National Guard to block the students entry to the school. The Governor was ordered to remove the National Guard and when he refused, President Eisenhower sent in the 101st Airborne to command and remove the Guard. The Little Rock Nine were escorted into the school by the soldiers. -
Cooper v Aaron (Achievement, Legislation/Supreme Court Case)
Cooper v Aaron is a Supreme Court case that upheld the courts ruling on Brown v Board of Education stating Arkansas cannot pass legislation allowing continued segregation in public schools. This ruling bound Arkansas officials to mandate desegregation of public schools. -
Period: to
1960s
The theme of the 60s was more focused on equal employment opportunities, voting rights, and ending Jim Crow Laws. Another theme was the increased violence on both sides, but the opposition was pushing back harder. Dr. King and Malcom X were both assassinated because of the perceived threat they presented to the opposition with their leadership qualities and success.
This decade is important because huge progress was made toward equality in the US. The progress made real change in peoples lives. -
Greensboro Sit-in (Achievement, Protest, Violence by Opposition)
The Greensboro Sit-in was started when four African American college students sat at the "whites only" counter at Woolworth's and would not give up their seats when refused service. The Sit-in movement was a nonviolent protest that spread across the nation. There were arrests made and the nation watched and was compelled to join in the Civil Right's Movement. By July of 1960, many restaurants across the South integrated seating, including Woolworths in Greensboro. -
Freedom Rides (Protests, Violence by Opposition)
The Freedom Rider's rode busses across the South, and the African American riders would attempt to use "whites only" lunch counters, waiting rooms and restrooms. In SC, a few Rider's were attacked when attempting to enter a whites only space. They were met by 200 hostile white people as the bus entered Anniston, AL. The bus was chased down, bombed, and the Freedom Rider's were brutally beaten. A second bus entered town and were also chased down and the Rider's brutally beaten. -
Albany Campaign (Protest, No violence)
The Albany Campaign was a nonviolent, mass demonstration to fight for racial equality as a whole. There were many arrests but the police remained nonviolent also. Dr King joined the cause and the national attention forced the city to make a deal that the jailed protestors be released if King left. King left but the city did not follow through. King learned a wide spread campaign is not effective and a smaller focus on one piece of racial injustice is effective for making change. -
Integration of the University of Mississippi (Achievement, Violence by Opposition)
The University of Mississippi integrated in 1962. James Meredith was the first African American student to attend. On his first day of school, there was a riot protesting his admittance to the University. The crowd attacked the US Marshalls sent to protect James while he entered the building. -
Birmingham Movement (Achievement, Protest, Legislation/Supreme Court Case, Violence by Opposition, Violence by Protesters)
This Movement was a focused campaign addressing specific issues like fair hiring practices, desegregating stores, schools and parks. Dr King and other Civil Right's leaders organized sit-ins, protests, boycotts. There was a lot of police brutality and arrests made and media coverage of it all. The city finally agreed to desegregate schools and parks and release the jailed protesters. The next day, local police and KKK members bombed Dr Kings home and local motel, starting the Birmingham Riots. -
James Meredith's March Against Fear (Protest, Violence by Opposition)
James Meredith was a Civil Rights activist that started a one man march from Memphis, TN to Jackson, MS. His goal was to bring awareness to voter discrimination and racism in the South. James was shot his second day by a white man, James Norvell. He was unable to continue immediately so many other Civil Rights leaders continued his march along with thousands of protesters. They were met with violence and hate the entire march. -
Assassination of Medgar Evers (Violence by Opposition, Violence by protesters)
Medgar Evers was a devoted civil rights activist and the first NAACP field officer in Mississippi. He was assassinated by Byron De La Beck as he returned home after a NAACP function. There were riots at his funeral against the police by angry mourners. -
March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom (Protest)
An estimated 250,000 people from across America attended this protest. Dr. King gave his famous speech "I Have a Dream". This peaceful demonstration put pressure on President John F Kennedy to create a strong civil rights bill. This event greatly contributed to the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. -
Mississippi Freedom Summer (Achievement, Protest, Violence by Opposition)
Mississippi Freedom Summer was a project with 300 volunteers to recruit more African American voters and create a freedom movement. Three of the volunteers were beaten and murdered by local KKK members supported by the police. Despite the violence they faced the volunteers continued to work over the summer. Although successful in getting 17,000 new African Americans to attempt to register to vote, only 1,200 had success. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Achievement, Legislation/Supreme Court Case)
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 established equal voting rights, public accommodations, desegregation of public education and equal employment opportunity. The main goal of this act is to provide equal opportunity and outlaws discrimination based on race, sex, religion or national origin. -
Heart of Atlanta Motel v U.S. (Achievement, Legislation/Supreme Court Case)
This is a Supreme Court ruling in favor of Civil Rights stating that the government can intervene if a private business discriminates based on race, backed by the Commerce Clause. This ruling upholds the Civil Rights Act of 1964. -
Assassination of Malcom X (Violence by Opposition)
Malcom X was assassinated by Thomas Hagan while giving a speech to his group, the Organization of Afro-Unity, at the Audubon Ballroom in Washington Heights. Malcom X believed in liberating African Americans "by any means necessary" including violence. He was admired and respected by many civil rights advocates. -
March from Selma to Montgomery (Protest, Violence by Opposition)
Six hundred protesters set out to march from Selma to Montgomery, AL. The protesters were blocked by many sheriffs deputies, state troopers and deputized citizens, some on horseback. The protesters were ordered to disperse. When they did not immediately follow orders, they were tear gassed and beaten with whips and clubs. The media covered the event and soon many other demonstrations were held across the US. Selma was a turning point in US History and lead to the Voting Rights Act of 1965. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965 (Achievement, Legislation/Supreme Court Case)
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 outlaws any discriminatory voting practices based on race. It enforces the African American right to vote as stated under the 15th Amendment to the US Constitution. -
Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr (Violence by Opposition)
Dr. King was assassinated by James Earl Ray by gun shot wound as he stood outside his motel room balcony at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, TN. Dr. King was in town to march with striking Memphis sanitation workers. President Johnson declared April 7th a national day of mourning and closed schools, public libraries and businesses. Thousands of people joined Dr King's widow for the march in Memphis. -
Fair Housing Act (Achievement, Legislation/Supreme Court Case)
The Fair Housing Act protects citizens from discrimination when engaging in any housing related activity. This includes renting a home, getting a mortgage to buy a home, federally assisted housing and other housing assistance. -
Period: to
1970s
The theme of the 1970s was accomplishments. There were African Americans in professions that would not have been possible a decade earlier. Another theme is acceptance. There was still plenty of opposition to the Civil Rights Movement but there was less violence than in the previous decades. There is a new generation of kids growing up in an integrated society that have not experienced segregation. This decade is important because it showed Americans what integration and unity can look like. -
Swann V Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (Achievement, Legislature/Supreme Court Case)
The Swann v Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools was a unanimous decision by the Supreme Court stating busing programs should be allowed and supported to provide access to schools and speed up racial integration. It allows busing programs protection in places that previously met opposition by the powers that be. -
Shirley Chisolm's Presidential Campaign (Achievement, No Violence)
Shirley Chisolm was the first black woman to serve in the U.S. Congress. She was also the first black woman to try to gain the Democratic Party's presidential nomination. She did not win the party's nomination due to sexist and racist opposition. The progress of the Civil Rights Movement created an America that a woman and an African American could attempt to run for President of the United States is a huge achievement. -
Hank Aaron's Home Run Record (Achievement, Violence by Opposition)
Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth's home run record in baseball with his 715th career home run, Hank Aaron received death threats and racist threats as he approached the world record. -
Barbara Jordan's Address at the Democratic National Convention (Achievement)
Barbara Jordan was the first woman and first African American to be a keynote speaker at the National Democratic Convention. In her famous speech, given in the year of the US bicentennial, she notes the progress made in the US for civil rights and reminds people to keep the American Dream alive. She points out that she is a black woman with the opportunity to make change in America. She would not have been give this opportunity even 10 years prior to 1976. -
Northern Violence Over School Integration (Violence by Opposition)
The North had a different view on racial injustice and often overlooked the racial inequalities. The schools were not integrated, not by law, but by neighborhoods. The result was most schools were one race. The courts ruled school buses will be used to integrate schools by bussing kids from predominantly black neighborhoods to predominantly white schools and conversely white kids to predominantly black schools. The predominantly white neighborhoods broke out into riots and violence. -
University of California Regents V Bakke (Achievement, Legislation/Supreme Court Case, No violence)
This Supreme Court case was not unanimous and had a mixed outcome. It was decided the University quota for minority admittance was unconstitutional but the University's affirmative action plan to admit more minority students was constitutional in some situations. It did result in Allan Bakke getting accepted into the University. There were nonviolent protests over the Supreme Court ruling. Many African Americans felt this was a set back for equality.
