Civil Rights Movement (1954-1968)

Civil Rights Movement (1954-1968)

1. 1954

   • Brown v. Board of Education
     • The Supreme Court rules that school segregation is unconstitutional
       • overruled Plessy vs. Ferguson
         • "seperate but equal"

2. 1955

   • Rosa Parks
     • refused to give up her seat at the front of the "colored section" of a bus to a white passenger
       • got arrested
     • Consequence
       • Montgomery Bus Boycott
         • 1955-1956
         • December 21, 1965: Montgomery's buses are desegregated

3. 1957

   • January / February
     • Southern Christian Conference [CLC]
       • founded by Martin Luther King and two other men
   • September 24
     • Little Rock Desegretation
       • Nine black students are blocked from entering the school (orders of Governor Orval Faubus)
         • Despite a year of violent threats, several of the "Little Rock Nine" manage to graduate from Central High

4. 1962

   • October 1
     • James Meredith becomes the first black student to enroll at the University of Mississippi
       • President Kennedy sends 5,000 federal troops after riots break out

5. 1963

   • Martin Luther King is arrested and jailed
     • during anti-segregation protests in Birmingham, Alabama
     • writes "Letter from Birmingham Jail"
       • advocated nonviolent civil disobedience
   • August 28
     • March on Washington
       • fight for jobs and freedom
       • attended by about 250,000 people
       • largest demonstration ever seen in the nation's capital
       • the march builds momentum for civil rights legislation
     • "I have a dream"

6. 1964

   • July 2
     • Civil Rights Act
       • signed by President Johnson
       • prohibits discrimination of all kinds based on race, color, religion, national origin
   • October
     • Martin Luther King receives the Nobel PeacePrize

7. 1965

   • February 21
     • Assassination of Malcolm X
       • black nationalist
       • founder of the Organization of Afro-American Unity
   • August 10
     • Voting Rights Act
       • passed by the Congress
       • made it easer for Southern blacks to register to vote
         • Literacy tests, poll taxes and other such requirements that were used to restrict black voting are made illigal

8. 1968

   • April 4
     • Assassination of Martin Luther King
   • April 11
     • President Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1986
       • prohibits discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of houses
   • November
     • Shirley Chisholm becomes the first black female U.S. Representative
       • served from 1969 to 1983