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Executive Order 9981
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Truman signs Executive Order 9981: "It is hereby declared to be the policy of the President that there shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion, or national origin." -
World War II
InfoThe armed services refuse to enlist black soldiers in every position of the military. They are soon let in in the lowest ranks possible: mess men, custodians, mailmen, etc. Later in the war, they are allowed to join the fight. Before they were allowed to join in America, many served as mercenaries for the French. These men came home from the war fighting with the French as decorated soldiers, honored and revered in France, but not in what they had assumed was their own country. -
Brown V. Board of Education
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The Supreme Court rules in favor of the plaintiff in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kans., agreeing that "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal." This case overruled the legalization of segregation in schools and was a victory for the NAACP and Thurgood Marshall. -
Rosa Parks Refuses to Give Up Her Seat
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NAACP member Rosa Parks refuses to sit in the back of a bus in Birmingham, Alabama. She is arrested and put into jail. This leads to many bus boycotts in the South, lead by blacks, that caused bus companies to lose mass amounts of revenue. -
The Little Rock Nine
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In Little Rock, Arkansas, nine African-American students enroll in Central High School, a formerly all-white high school in Arkansas. There is violence and uproar, leading President Eisenhower to send troops so that they may be escorted into the school. A victory for the movement, the "Little Rock Nine" as the students are called, emphasize a chain movement of integrated education around the country. -
James Meredith
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On October 1, James Meredith becomes the first ever black student to enroll at the University of Mississippi. Just as there was uproar over the Little Rock Nine, Meredith receives just as much attention. He is also escorted into the school by US Marshals. -
March on Washington
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Men and women from around the country join together for the March on Washington, a rally for equality that ammasses 200,000 people. Those of all races and colors congregate at the Lincoln Memorial and listen to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous "I Have A Dream" speech, in which he speaks about his hopes for America's future in Civil Rights. -
Poll Tax Abolished
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The poll tax is abolished. This tax, implemented during Reconstruction, was put in place to discourage black citizens from voting, considering that many could not afford the tax at that time. As it was abolished, there was celebration around the country for another step towards equality. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
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President Johnson issues and signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination of all kinds based on race, color, religion, or national origin. The law also provides the federal government with the powers to enforce desegregation. This is the most influential piece of legislation since the Reconstruction era.