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Plessy v. Ferguson
This landmark Supreme Court case questioned the meaning of the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment after Homer Plessy was arrested for sitting in the whites car of a train when he was 1/8 African American. The ruling upheld the "separate-but-equal" doctrine because the separate cars were legal under the 14th amendment as long as they were equal. This decision was overturned by the case Brown v. Board of Education because "separate-but-equal" still implied that there was an inequality. -
Brown v. Board of Education
This Supreme Court decision overturned the "separate-but-equal" decision in Plessy v. Ferguson. Various public schools were declining African Americans from enrollment on the basis of racial segregation being upheld by Plessy v. Ferguson. However, in Brown v. Board of Education, the Court justified desegregating schools in that the "separate-but-equal" doctrine still implied that there was racial inequality between whites and people of color. -
Murder of Emmett Till
Emmett Till was a 14 year old African American boy who was brutally murdered by a white woman's husband and brother after he had allegedly flirted with her. His murderers received a "not guilty" verdict because his body had been beaten beyond recognition, but people believed it was him due to a ring he wore that was on the corpse. The trial received a wide amount of angry responses with its press coverage. -
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Rosa Parks & the Montgomery Bus Boycott
African Americans during this boycott protested segregation in buses by refusing to ride the buses in Montgomery. Rosa Parks was known for being arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white man. Martin Luther King Jr. emerged as an important civil rights leader during this event. -
Founding of Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) & Martin Luther King
Martin Luther King Jr. emerged as an activist leader during the Montgomery bus boycotts. As he gained more influence, he later established the SCLC with a group of other ministers. The SCLC made major contributions to the civil rights movements through its campaigns against racial discrimination and segregation. -
Little Rock Nine & Central High School
In Little Rock, Arkansas, a group of 9 African American students enrolled into Central High School but were blocked from entering by the National Guard sent by the governor of Arkansas. In response, Eisenhower sent his own federal troops to the school to escort them in. Due to constant harassment, however, many of the students of the Little Rock Nine did not graduate from Central High School and moved back to their old campus. -
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Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) & Freedom Summer
The committee was created on the basis of nonviolence and contributed to the civil rights movement through protests in the form of freedom rides and sit-ins. The Freedom Summer was an effort by organizations including the SNCC to increase the amount of black voters in the South. Both protests would lead to the deaths of many advocates due to no resistance from the protesters themselves against their white opposers. -
Greensboro Sit-in
Sit-ins were a form of protest in the civil rights movement to protest against discrimination and segregation in lunch counters. A group of four students stayed seated at a lunch counter in the South when they were denied service. They were arrested for "disturbing the peace," but this form of protest ended up being spread nationwide. -
Freedom Rides/Freedom Riders
Freedom Riders rode buses around the South to protest segregation. The Freedom Rides were a form of nonviolent protest that also resulted in the deaths of many of the protesters who participated because of the lack of resistance, especially deaths caused by the KKK. Use of lunch counters and restrooms on their travels also heightened their risks of being killed. -
March on Washington
The protest was led by civil rights advocates and resulted in the gathering of 250,000 in front of the Lincoln Memorial. The massive amount of people and Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous "I Have a Dream" speech garnered the attention of Americans with its large press coverage. Activists gathered to protest for political justice and equality for all races. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
This act was a vastly significant achievement of the civil rights movement in its accomplishment of desegregation of public spaces. It banned employment discrimination based on religion, sex, race, and origin. The act had been able to pass thanks to the passionate efforts of activists such as Martin Luther King Jr. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
The act gave African Americans more ability to vote by banning literacy tests that they were often forced to take. Prior to the act, officials gave African Americans difficult tests they required them to overcome in order to vote. It increased the voter turnout and the political influence of African Americans. -
Assassination of Malcolm X
On this date, Malcolm X was shot by a Nation of Islam member during a speech at a rally for the Organization of Afro-American Unity. Due to his background of living in poverty and crime, his legacy has been overshadowed by Martin Luther King Jr.'s nonviolent legacy. However, his philosophy of self-defense for African Americans in the face of racism still gained him a large amount of supporters. -
Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
The assassination of MLK outraged many African Americans of this time because they had lost such a large influence who inspired many to protest for equality. The angry response towards his assassination sped up the process of Congress passing the Fair Housing Act. His death also led to the growth of the Black Power movement and the Black Panther party.
