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The Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional, overturning Plessy v. Ferguson. -
Sparked by Rosa Parks' arrest on December 1, African Americans in Montgomery, Alabama, led by Martin Luther King Jr., launched a boycott against segregated buses. It lasted over a year and ended with a Supreme Court ruling desegregating public transportation. -
Nine Black students attempted to enter Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, facing violent resistance. President Eisenhower sent federal troops to enforce desegregation. -
Four African American college students in Greensboro, North Carolina, sat at a segregated Woolworth’s lunch counter and refused to leave, igniting a wave of nonviolent protests. -
Activists, both Black and white, rode interstate buses into the segregated South to challenge illegal segregation in bus terminals. Riders faced violent resistance but drew national attention. -
Over 250,000 people gathered in Washington, D.C., to advocate for civil rights. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech. -
President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act, banning discrimination in public places, schools, and workplaces based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. -
The Voting Rights Act outlawed discriminatory voting practices, such as literacy tests, that were used to suppress Black voters in the South. -
Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, while supporting a sanitation workers' strike. His death marked a turning point in the movement. -
This law banned discrimination in housing based on race, religion, or national origin, making it illegal to refuse housing opportunities based on these factors.