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Important events in the road to eliminating social injustices and promoting equality for all.
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The proclamation declared "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free."
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The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for a crime.
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Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States that granted citizenship and equal civil and legal rights to African Americans and slaves who had been emancipated after the American Civil War.
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The Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits the federal and state governments from denying a citizen the right to vote based on that citizen's "race, color, or previous condition of servitude".
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The Civil Rights Act of 1875 was a United States federal law enacted during the Reconstruction Era in response to civil rights violations to African Americans, "to protect all citizens in their civil and legal rights", giving them equal treatment in public accommodations, public transportation, and to prohibit exclusion from jury service.
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In this case, the Supreme Court upheld a Louisiana law requiring railroads to separate blacks and whites into different passenger cars. The Court affirmed the idea that the races could be segregated by law as long as the public facilities available to each race were “equal, but separate.”
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The Supreme Court overturned the "Scottsboro Boys'" convictions and guaranteed counsel in state and federal courts.
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On July 26, 1948, President Truman issued Executive Order 9981 establishing equality of treatment and opportunity in the Armed Services.
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Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka was a landmark 1954 Supreme Court case in which the justices ruled unanimously that racial segregation of children in public schools was unconstitutional.
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In 1955, the Supreme Court considered arguments by the schools requesting relief concerning the task of desegregation. In their decision, the court delegated the task of carrying out school desegregation to district courts with orders that desegregation occurs "with all deliberate speed".
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The Civil Rights Act of 1960 was a United States federal law that established federal inspection of local voter registration polls and introduced penalties for anyone who obstructed someone's attempt to register to vote.
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The Civil Rights Act of 1964, which ended segregation in public places and banned employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin, is considered one of the crowning legislative achievements of the civil rights movement.
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The Voting Rights Act of 1965, signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson, aimed to overcome legal barriers at the state and local levels that prevented African Americans from exercising their right to vote as guaranteed under the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
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This decision ruled that the prohibition of interracial marriage was unconstitutional. Sixteen states that still banned interracial marriage at the time were forced to revise their laws.
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The Civil Rights Act of 1968 defines housing discrimination as the “refusal to sell or rent a dwelling to any person because of his race, color, religion, or national origin”.
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Infoplease. (2021). Ten important supreme court decisions in black history. Retrieved from https://www.infoplease.com/us/government/judicial-branch/ten-important-supreme-court-decisions-in-black-history Montana State University. (2014). LibGuides: African-American rights movements: Legislation/court cases. Retrieved from https://libguides.msubillings.edu/c.php?g=902153&p=6492380