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1909, Civil Rights simmers
- The civil rights movement had been simmering for a long time, since 1909. NAACP had supported court cases with the intent to overturn segregation, with just a few victorires, for example, the Norris V. Alabama Case. In this case, The Supreme Court ruled that Alabama’s exclusion of African Americans from juries violated their right to equal protection under the law.
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Morgan v. Virginia
in 1946 the Court ruled in Morgan v. Virginia that segregation on interstate buses was unconstitutional. In 1950 it ruled in Sweatt V. Painter that state law schools had to admit qualified African American applicants, even if parallel black schools existed. -
Linda Brown v. Topeka School Board
- In 1954 the Supreme Court decided to combine several cases and issue a general ruling on segregation in schools. One of the cases involved a young African American girl named Linda Brown, who was denied admission to her neighborhood school in Topeka, Kansas, because of her race. She was told to attend an all-black school across town. With the help of the NAACP, her parents then sued the Topeka school board.
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Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka Kansas
On May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka Kansas, that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional and violated the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. -
Rosa Park's Arrest
a. On December the first, in 1955, Rosa Parks left her job as a seamstress in Montgomery, Alabama, and boarded a bus to go home. Seats in the bus in front were for whites only and seats in the back were for blacks. Rosa was very tired and took a seat just behind the white section, but when the bus filled up and a white man was left standing, the bus driver told Rosa and three other blacks to get up and let the white man sit down. The other blacks obeyed, but Rosa did not and as a result was arre -
Dr. King's Church Speech
- On the evening of December 5, 1955, a meeting was held at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, where Dr. King was the pastor. King encouraged the people to continue their protest, stating that “There comes a time, my friends, when people get tired of being thrown into the abyss of humiliation, where they experience the bleakness of nagging despair.”
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Southern Manifesto
- In 1956 a group of 101 Southern members of Congress signed the “Southern Manifesto”, which denounced the Supreme Court’s ruling as “a clear abuse of judicial power” and pledged to use “all lawful means” to reverse the decision. Although the “Southern Manifesto” had no legal standing, the statement encouraged white Southerners to defy the Supreme Court.
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JFK's Civil Rights Movement Promise
IN January the first, 1960, John F. Kennedy promised to actively support the civil rights movement if elected. -
The First Sit-Ins
- On February the first, 1960, the four friends entered the Woolworth’s. They purchased school supplies and then sat at the lunch counter and ordered coffee. When they were refused service, Blair asked, “I beg your pardon, but you just served us at (the checkout) counter. Why can’t we be served at the counter here?” The students stayed at the counter until it closed, and then announced that they would sit at the counter every day until they were given the same service as white customers.
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Sit-Ins Continue
Sit-ins begin in Greensboro, and soon young people are staging sit-ins across the South to integrate public facilities -
Malcolm X Acts
In the late 1960s, a new group of African American leaders, such as Malcolm X, had lost patience with the slow progress of civil rights and felt that African Americans needed to act more militantly and demand equality, not wait for it to be given. -
Freedom Riders
In 1961, CORE leader James Farmer asked teams of African American and white volunteers, many of whom were college students, to travel into the South to draw attention to its refusal to integrate bus terminals. The teams became known as the Freedom Riders -
Freedom-Riders Attack
In early May the first, 1961, the first Freedom Riders boarded several southbound interstate buses. When the buses arrived in Anniston, Birmingham, and Montgomery, Alabama, angry white mobs attacked them. They slit the bus tires and threw rocks at the windows. In Anniston, someone threw a firebomb into one bus, but fortunately no one was killed. -
Jame's Meredith Registering at University of Mississppi
September the first, 1962, James Meredith tries to register at University of Mississippi; riots force Kennedy to send in troops. -
Martin Luther King's Protest in Birmingham, Alabama
May the first, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr., leads protests in Birmingham, Alabama; police assault the protestors and King is jailed. -
"I Have a Dream" Speech Is Delivered
August the first, 1963, King delivers his “I Have a Dream” speech during the March on Washington in support of new civil rights act -
JFK Signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964
July the first, 1964 Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law -
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African American Riots Continue
Between 1965-1968 riots broke out in dozens of American cities. -
African Americans Progress
In 1965 only fifteen percent of African Americans held professional, managerial, or clerical jobs, compared to forty-four percent of whites. -
Martin Luther King's March in Selma, Alabama
March the first, 1965, King leads a march in Selma, Alabama, to build support for a new voting rights law, police brutally attack marchers -
Voting Rights Act is Passed
August the third, 1965, Congress passes the Voting Rights Act of 1965 -
African American Riots Erupt in Watts
August eight, 1965, riots erupted in Watts, an African American neighborhood, costing about 45 million dollars in property and killing 34 people while injuring about 900 others. -
People Lose Faith in Martin Luther King
After 1965, many people, especially urban young people, began to turn away from King, with some leaders calling for more aggressive forms of protest. -
Black Panthers Are Created
In 1966, Black Panthers was created, believing that a revolution was necessary in the United States, and they urged African Americans to arm themselves and prepare to force whites to grant them equal rights, calling for an end to racial oppression and control of major institutions in the African American community, such as schools, law enforcement, housing, and hospitals. -
Worst Riot in Detroit
1967, the worst riot took place in Detroit, with burning, looting, and skirmishes with police and National Guard members which resulted in 43 deaths and over 1,000 wounded. -
National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders Study Riots
In 1967, President Johnson appointed the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, headed by Governor Otto Kerner of Illinois, to study the causes of the urban riots and to make recommendations to prevent them from happening again. -
Martin Luther King's Murder
On April 4, 1968, as MLK stood on his hotel balcony in Memphis, he was assassinated by a sniper. His death touched off both national mourning and riots in more than 100 cities, including Washington, D.C., -
Desegregation in Schools
Not until 1969 did the Supreme Court order all school systems to desegregate “at once” and operate integrated schools “now and hereafter”.