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Brown v Board of Education
The US Supreme Court rules an end to segregation in schools. It overturns the earlier Plessy v Ferguson (1896) decision that permitted “separate but equal” facilities for blacks and whites. In reality, of course, “separate” facilities were hardly ever “equal”.State-sanctioned segregation of public schools was a violation of the 14th amendment and was therefore unconstitutional. -
The Emmett Till murder
Fourteen-year-old Emmett Till from Chicago is brutally murdered by whites while visiting relatives in Mississippi. His alleged crime is saying “Bye, baby” to a white woman in a store for a dare. The case causes outrage among America’s black population.Four days later, two white men tortured and murdered Till. His murder galvanized the emerging Civil Rights Movement. -
The Montgomery bus boycott
Blacks in Montgomery, Alabama, boycott buses for 13 months after the arrest of Rosa Parks for breaking segregation laws. The US Supreme Court eventually rules a complete end to segregation on city buses in Montgomery. The protest lasted for 381 days. -
The Little Rock school crisis
Arkansas Governor Orval E Faubus prevents the desegregation of Little Rock’s Central High School by calling out National Guard troops. President Dwight D Eisenhower sends in federal soldiers to allow nine black students to attend the school. -
Civil Rights Act of 1957
The result was the Civil Rights Act of 1957, the first civil rights legislation since Reconstruction. The new act established the Civil Rights Section of the Justice Department and empowered federal prosecutors to obtain court injunctions against interference with the right to vote. -
Sit-ins
Four black students in Greensboro, North Carolina, hold the first sit-in. They refuse to move from a segregated lunch counter when denied service. Sit-ins are employed by a growing number of civil rights activists in the South.
