-
Brown v. Board of Education agreed that segregation in public schools is unconstitutional. So what? This leads to the way for large-scale desegregation.
-
Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat at the front of the colored section of a bus to a white passenger. So what? This leads to the Montgomery black community to launch a bus boycott.
-
Martin Luther King Jr. established the Southern Christian Leadership conferance. So what? The SCLC became a major force in organizing the civil rights movement, focussing on nonviolence and civil disobedience.
-
Nine black students are blocked from entering the white school on orders of Mississippi's Governor. So what? President Eisenhower sends federal troops to become involved on behalf of the students, who became know as the "Little Rock Nine."
-
Four black students from NC College begin a sit-in at a segregated Woolworth's lunch conter. They are refused service but were allowed to stay at the counter. So what? This event triggers many nonviolent protests throughout the South.
-
James Meredith became the first black student to enroll at the University of Mississippi. So what? Violence and riots surrounding the incident caused President Kennedy to send 5,000 federal troops.
-
Birmingham, Alabama commisioner of Public Safety uses fire hoses and police dogs on African Americans. So what? The pictures of brutality on television caused sympathy for the civil rights movement around the world.
-
Thousands of Americans gathered in front of the Lincoln Memorial to protest and listen to Martin Luther King Jr. advocate his "I Have a Dream" Speech. So what? This led to help pass the Civil Rights Act(1964).
-
Civil rights groups launch a massive effort to register black voters, which becomes known as the "Freedom Summer." So what? This sends delegates to the Democratic National Convention to protest and kick off the all-white Mississippi contingent.
-
In Memphis, Tenn. Martin Luther King Jr., at age 39, was shot as he stood on the balcony outside his hotel room. So what? Escaped convict and racist, James Ray is convicted of the crime.
