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Plessy v. Ferguson
Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), is a landmark United States Supreme Court decision in the jurisprudence of the United States, upholding the constitutionality of state laws requiring racial segregation in public facilities under the doctrine of "separate but equal". Plessy’s arguments were based on the Fourteenth Amendment. Plessy legitimized the move toward segregation practices. -
Thrugood Marshall
After the Brown V. Board of Education decision, John F. Kennedy appointed Thurgood Marshall to the U.S. Court of Appeals. Wrote over 150 decisions including support for the rights of immigrants, limiting government intrusion in cases involving illegal search and seizure, double jeopardy, and right to privacy issues. President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed him to the United States Supreme Court. -
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
Mission is “to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate racial hatred and racial discrimination”. Helped register black students into all-white schools. Had activists such as Rosa Parks and E.D. Nixon. -
Rosa Parks
Called “the first lady of Civil Rights” by U.S Congress. Parks boarded and paid the fair on a bus, she went in and sat down and the bus driver told her to follow the rules, she got up and went outside to re-enter the bus through the other side, before she could get back in the bus driver drove off. Parks refused to give up her seat, after a long day of work, to a white passenger. -
Fannie Lou Hamer
Sang Christian Hymns, which reflected her belief that the civil rights struggle was spiritual. Hamer and her colleagues were beaten savagely by the police, almost to the point of death. After being jailed, she went back to Mississippi to organize voter registration drives. -
Malcolm X
Advocated for separations of white from African Americans. Believed the white people are “devils”. Rejected the nonviolence theme for African Americans. -
Medgar Evers
Involved in a boycott campaign against white merchants. Evers applied to University of Mississippi Law School, but got rejected, NAACP focused their campaign to desegregate schools based on Evers. In the weeks leading up to Evers death, Evers got a lot of threats, a Molotov cocktail was the cause of his death -
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Was an American clergyman, activist and leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. Montgomery Bus Boycott was led by King, which led to King’s house being bombed and King being arrested which concluded with a United States District Court ruling that ended desegregation on Montgomery public buses. Created the “I have a dream” speech. -
James Meredith
Applied to the all-white University of Mississippi and was admitted until they found out his race. The court ruled against him, until it went to the Supreme Court and the Court ruled in his favor. James Meredith was the first African American student to enroll at the University of Mississippi. -
Sit-ins
Nonviolent strategy of civil disobedience and mass protests. Many sit-ins eventually led to the placement of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Lunch-counter sit-in for the purpose of integrating segregated establishments was held by NAACP Youth council leader, this quickly desegregated the Katz Drug Store. -
Brown v. Board of Education
Supreme Court declared segregated schools unconstitutional. Created by a class action suit filed on the Board of Education of the city of Topeka, Kansas. Sponsored by NAACP. -
The Montgomery Bus Boycott
Political and social protest against the policy of racial segregation. Started after Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white person. Supreme Court eventually decided that segregation of public buses unconstitutional. -
Southern Christian Leadership Conference
First president was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Started a campaign trying to desegregate Birmingham’s downtown merchants. Started the March on Washington. -
The Little Rock Nine
A group of African Americans enrolled in Little Rock Central High School were initially prevented from entering the racially segregated school. Little Rock School Board agreed to comply with the ruling of Brown v. Board of Education. By 1957 NAACP registered nine black students into Little Rock Nine High School. -
Student Non-Violent Coordination Committee
Created on the campus of Shaw University in Raleigh. Established nonviolence as the driving philosophy behind the organization. Went against the Vietnam War. -
Freedom Riders
The rides were to test the Supreme Court’s decision which declared segregation in interstate bus and rail stations unconstitutional. The riders encountered minor hostility in the beginning stages of the Freedom Ride. As they got to Alabama one of their buses were burned and in Birmingham several dozen whites attacked the riders. -
March on Washington
Martin Luther King Jr. gave his “I Have a Dream” speech. March on Washington had 200,000 to 300,000 participants. Initiated by A. Phillip Randolph. -
Fredom Summer
Attempt to register as many African American voters as possible in Mississippi. Mississippi’s white residents didn’t like the outsider’s attempt for change. Violence struck out fast. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Outlawed major forms of discrimination against racial, ethnic, national, and religious minorities. The powers were weak at first, but were supplemented. The duty is to guarantee all citizens equal protection of the laws under the Fourteenth Amendment. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
Outlawed discriminatory voting practices that had been responsible for the widespread disenfranchisement of African Americans in the U.S. The Act prohibits any “voting qualification or prerequisite to voting, or standard, practice, or procedure... to deny or abridge the right of any citizen in the U.S. Provides oversight of elections administrations -
Black Panthers
Founded in Oakland, California by Huey Newton and Bob Seale. Initially set fourth a doctrine calling primarily for the protection of African American neighborhoods from police brutality. Made a newspaper call the Black Panther. -
Martin Luther King Jr. Assassination
King family believed it was carried out by a conspiracy involving the U.S. government. King family believed that it was carried out by Loyd Jowers and had a scapegoat of James Earl Ray. Conclusion was later affirmed by a jury in a 1999 civil jury.