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Brown v. Board of Education
The case of Brown v. Board of Education was held in Topeka, Kansas in 1954. Five states, Kansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, South Carolina and Virginia were included. The US Supreme Court collected 5 cases that wanted to end segregation in public schools. After a unanimous vote of 9-0, Chief Justice Warren concluded that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional under the “separate but equal” law. This was a large event that started the Civil Rights Movement. -
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Civil Rights Movement
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Rosa Parks' Refusal
On December 1st, 1959 in Montgomery, Alabama, a black woman by the name of Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man on a segregated bus and was arrested. The law stated that blacks could sit from the 5th row and back on the segregated bus, but whites and blacks could not sit in the same row. Parks was sitting in the 5th row, and even though the other three blacks in the row moved back like the white man had demanded, she remained seated because she felt as if it was her right. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
Following the incident with Rosa Parks, a bus boycott was put in place in Montgomery, Alabama. Protesting that it was unconstitutional to segregate buses, blacks had stayed off the buses for over a year. -
Little Rock Nine
In the fall of 1957, nine students from Little Rock Arkansas were chosen to be registered by the NAACP to attend an all white high school. Upon arrival, protests and riots had happened because the white students, teachers, and law enforcement were against the attempt at integration. President Eisenhower sent troops in to act as body guards to the group of students. Due to extreme measures for safety, the violence has slowed down and eventually come to a stop. -
Sit-Ins at Woolworth's
In 1960, there was a six month long protest beginning in February to end segregation at the lunch counter of Woolworth’s of Greensboro, North Carolina. The sit-ins was started by 4 black college students, which had gone through training to resist the harassment. Knowing that this protest would need to be done longer than a day, more and more students volunteered to be a part of this. Even though the students sitting quietly at the lunch counter, they were beaten and arrested. -
Freedom Rides
In 1961, CORE organized scheduled Freedom Rides to protest against segregation on public buses. Thirteen African-American and civil rights activists began their journey from Washington, D.C., and travelled all through the deep south of the United States. In some towns, there were riots waiting for the buses’ arrival, and unfortunately the riots won most of the time. Hundreds of people had gathered and done the same thing as the thirteen activists. The law was changed. -
March on Washington
The March On Washington was a very large protest to show everybody that blacks were not going to give up and they were determined to fight for their rights. On August 28th, 1963, more than 200,000 Americans gathered in Washington, D.C. to listen to civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. give his famous “I Have A Dream” speech. This event without a doubt opened the countries eyes to the unconstitutional ways of segregation. -
Voter Registration Drive
In 1964, CORE and SNCC organized a voter registration drive in Mississippi. Blacks had stood in line for days to register to vote, and because of the persistence, the voting rate of African-Americans went up about 60% in just a few years. -
Assassination of MLK Jr.
On April 4th, 1968, civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated at the Lorraine Hotel in Memphis, Tennessee. King was standing on the balcony where he was shot by a sniper and killed. Even though most people, including King’s family, thought the man who killed him was innocent, James Earl Ray was arrested and charged with the murder of King. -
President Barack Obama
In 2006, Barack Hussein Obama II (D) ran for the presidential election and won. Obama was the first black president to be voted into office, and made history. He was elected in November, 2004 and took office January, 2005. He then ran for presidency again in November, 2008, and took office January, 2009 to serve his second term in the White House.
