The Civil Rights Movement

Brown v. Board of Education

May 17, 1954

Is Segregation Unconstitutional?Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, was a case filled by Oliver Brown with the help of NAACP, after his daughter, Linda Brown, was denied entrance to Topeka’s all-white elementary school because of her race.This law-suite was a beginning of colored people finally being heard.The outcome of the case was in favor of Brown and stated segregation is unconstitutional.As also it overturned other laws that have to do with segregation.

Montgomery Bus Boycott

Dec 1, 1955

The day Rosa Parks’s refused to give up her seat on the
bus to a white man was truly a historical moment.After that event the Montgomery Improvement Association elected Martin Luther King, Jr., as the one to lead them and they started a peaceful protest against the bus company, against segregation, and racial discrimination.The boycott proved that you can be loud without making noise and that you can accomplish a lot even with being nonviolent and peaceful.

Little Rock 9 and the Desegregation of Schools

Sep 4, 1957

The school board in Little Rock, Arkansas, won a court order requiring that 9 African American students be admitted to Central High, mainly white students. Governor Faubus, ordered troops from the Arkansas National Guard, also a mob of angry white protesters joined to prevent the 9 students from entering the school. President Eisenhower immediately called in the army to go protect the 9 students.This event was important in because it showed progress for equal opportunity in education.

Urban Problems and the Black Panthers

1960

Many African Americans were stuck in urban poverty set of economic and social difficulties.They usually had low-paying jobs with little chance of advancement and horrible living conditions.Dr.King tried to help this issue, mostly failed. Huey Newton, Bobby Seale, and Eldridge Cleaver organized the Black Panthers.They believed that a revolution was necessary in the United States, they wanted an end to racial oppression and control of major institutions in the African American community.

The Sit-In Movement

Feb 1, 1960

Four African American freshman college students Ezell Blair Jr., David Richmond, Franklin McCain and Joseph McNeil in Greensboro, North Carolina refuse to leave a Woolworth’s “whites only” lunch counter without being served.This inspired a mass movement for civil rights by the nonviolent Sit-In's at the front counter.

Freedom Riders

1961

CORE leader James Farmer asked teams of African American/white volunteers, to travel into the South to draw attention to its refusal to integrate bus terminals.When the first Freedom Riders arrived in Anniston,Birmingham, andMontgomery, Alabama, angry white mobs attacked them.They slit the bus tires, threw rocks at the windows, threw a firebomb into one bus, hit them with baseball bats, chains, and lead pipes.This was an eye opener for Americans.

James Meredith and the Desegregation of Southern Universities

1962

James Meredith was an an African American air force veteran who applied for a transfer to the University of Mississippi but the governor of Mississippi Ross Barnett, blocked his path.Plus angry white protesters.President Kennedy dispatched 500 federal marshals to escort Meredith to the campus. For the rest of the year, Meredith attended classes at the University of Mississippi under federal
guard.He was the first African American to attend the University of Mississippi.

The March on Washington

Aug 28, 1963

A. Philip Randolph and Dr. King realized that Kennedy would have a hard time pushing his civil rights bill through Congress he needed to influence Congress and to build more public support. More than 200,000 demonstrators of all races gathered at nation’s capital.Dr. King delivered a powerful speech.The March on Washington was a success because right after the The Civil Rights Bill was passed.
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Voter Registration Among Minorities

1964

Even after the bill The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed it still did little to address voting issues for African Americans.They were often attacked and beaten, and several were murdered.Dr.King organized a march at Selma, Alabama, to campaign for voting rights.Sheriff Jim Clark had deputized, armed dozens of white citizens, and then attacked demonstrators with clubs and electric cattle prods.After that march the The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed which suspended discriminatory devices.

Malcolm X and the Civil Rights Movement

Jan 21, 1965

Malcolm X was an important figure in the Civil Right movement who took a more aggressive approach vs. Dr.King. He preached black power, black nationalism, economic self-sufficiency, and overall demanded equality, and did not wait for it to be given. He was part of the Black Muslims but after he broke it off with the Nation of Islam, he criticized the organization. Because of this, the organization members shot and killed him. His ideas influenced a new generation.