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Plessy v. Ferguson
The case was Homer Plessy versus New Orleans’s judge John H Ferguson. Plessey had refused to sit in a black train car. Judge Ferguson ruled that African Americans were only unequal in legal terms, but not really. Therefore, in Ferguson’s mind, the 13th and 14th amendments were not violated. The decision facilitated over 60 years of segregation between blacks and whites by declaring “separate but equal.” -
Brown v. Board of Education
Earl Warren was the chief justice when the court unanimously decided that segregated schools were not equal. Segregated schools were against the 14th amendment which guaranteed equal protection under the law. The decision led to massive resistance to integration by school districts across the south, but it also began the integration of public schools in the south. -
Murder of Emmett Till
Emmet Till was a black boy from Chicago who was visiting his relatives in Mississippi. He allegedly whistled at a white woman on his way out of a local store, and the woman’s husband and brother in law found Emmet at his uncle’s house. Emmet was beaten to death and then deposited in a river where his body was later discovered. Emmet Tills mutilated body in the open casket made national headlines, and it exposed the south’s violence toward African-Americans. -
Rosa Parks & the Montgomery Bus Boycott
Rosa Parks had been active in the NAACP for ten years before refusing to give up her seat on a bus because she was fed up with segregation. The Montgomery Bus Boycott began shortly after Rosa Parks had refused to give up her seat for a white person on a Montgomery bus. The Boycott lasted 381 days (Dec 5 1955- Dec 20 1956) and only when the Supreme court ruled that segregation on public buses unconstitutional. The boycott also crippled the revenues of the Montgomery bus service. -
Founding of Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) & Martin Luther King
Martin Luther King helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in Atlanta Georgia. The group organized black ministers and demonstrations for civil rights. The organization grew to become an African American youth support group in present day. -
Little Rock Nine & Central High School
The Little Rock Nine were 9 students that wanted to go to Little Rock Central High School. The governor of Arkansas called in the National Guard to stop the students from entering. Eisenhower nationalized the Arkansas National Guard and sent in 1000 paratroopers to escort the teens into the school. -
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) April 1960 (founded) & Freedom Summer started June 1964
The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee organized the freedom summer rides in June 1964. Freedom Summer was a massive voter registration drive in the south. They also organized many of the marches and sit-ins. Gradually though, the SNCC became more radical since it was made of impatient young people. The SNCC gave students a platform to organize protests for the civil rights movement. -
Greensboro Sit-In
The Greensboro Sit-ins were organized by the SNCC students. The students sat at the counter of restaurants, in the whites section, until they were served. Sit inners were hit with food and had drinks thrown at them. The Sit Ins brought attention to restaurant segregation, and by summer of 1960 restaurants across the south were beginning integration. -
Freedom Ride/Freedom Riders
The Freedom rides were organized by CORE members and lasted until December 10th, 1961. The members rode busses into the deep south to protest desegregation. The buses were full of black and white students. The rides inspired angered many southerners, particularly Klan members. They would set up blockades and attack the people on the buses. -
March on Washington
Over 200,000 people participated in the March for Jobs and Freedom at the Lincoln Memorial. It featured Martin Luther King Jr’s “I have a Dream” Speech which talked about King’s vision of an equal society. The March on Washington helped persuade Johnson to pass the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the first substantial civil rights legislation since Reconstruction. -
Civil Rights Act (1964)
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was the first civil rights act since Reconstruction. The Act made it illegal for employers to discriminate based on sex, race, national origin, or religion. It also made segregation in public places illegal. The Act helped to end legal segregation in the south and de facto segregation in the north. -
Assassination of Malcolm X
Malcom X was assassinated by members of the Nation of Islam. Malcom had left the nation of Islam to try to start his own group. Although Malcom had been killed, his philosophy inspired the Black power movement and later groups like the Black Panthers. -
Voting Rights Act (1965
The bill was passed by the Senate 77 to 19 and by the House 333 to 85. The bill made it illegal to have voters take literacy tests to vote and allowed the US attorney to investigate poll taxes. The Act was the start of legal battles against voting restrictions in the south. -
Assassination of MLK
Martin Luther King was assassinated by James Earl Ray on April 4th 1968. King had been standing on the balcony of his hotel room. His death led many African Americans to turn to violence. Many believed that non-violence had been rejected.
