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Emmett Till Murder
Two Mississippi white men brutally murdered 14-year-old Emmett Till for whistling at a white woman. Even though there was eyewitness testimony of the atrocities that happened, both suspects were acquitted of any charges. This sparked an outrage among the Black community. -
Brown v Board of Education
This was finally when the segregation of public schools was outlawed because it was deemed unconstitutional. It violated the equal protection clause under the 14th Amendment of the Constitution and was outlawed. It was a great case because it was based on a student who had to go past a white school to get to her black school but that wouldn't have been a strong enough case so they had to argue equal protection through how the intelligence of whites and blacks is being perceived. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
This important event was when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a Bus to a white man and was arrested. She thought that she had the right to keep her seat and not give it up so it started a boycott where all Black people of Montgomery wouldn't take public transportation. Eventually, after a year of boycotting, they were granted their right to equality in public transportation. -
Little Rock 9
The Little Rock 9 is a group of students who were trying to integrate schools following the Brown vs Board. There were riots from parents as a result and the 9 black people who joined the school had to have military aid to make sure they were safe at school. It was a very tough experience for those 9 navigating total opposition but it was important to get to the school system we have now. -
Lunch Counter Sit-Ins
This started with people sitting at the lunch counters in Greensboro even though they were segregated. It quickly spread across the South and many were thrown out or arrested but the aim was to end the segregation in these public places. -
Birmingham Protests
The Birmingham protests were about getting employers in the South to make sure that employment was open to all regardless of skin color and what better place to protest but Birmingham one of the most racist towns in the South at the time. MLK entered into solitary confinement voluntarily at the time because of how many people were being arrested for this protest to show his devotion to the cause. -
Freedom Bus Rides
These were people who rode the buses throughout the South to protest the non-enforcement of Supreme Court laws to outlaw segregated buses. This is not the same as the Montgomery Bus Boycott but along similar lines because both were related to public transportation laws. This also put pressure on the president to make sure laws were being enforced so he didn't look unfair. -
Selma Marches
The Selma marches which were from Selma all of the way to the capitol Montgomery Alabam were the largest non-violent protests in history. They were marching to the capitol to protest their right to be able to have votes cast in the presidential election which Alabama hadn't been previously allowing. -
March on Washington
The March on Washington was one of the most memorable moments in Civil Rights history. This was a gathering of around 200,000 people at the Washington Monument where MLK gave his famous "I have a dream" speech. This was aimed at protesting civil and economic rights for African Americans like jobs and freedom. -
Freedom Summer(Mississippi)
Many college students in Alabama were protesting voting rights for African Americans over this summer. During this big protest three college students of all different ethnicities went missing and were all later found dead. This caused even more of an uproar but mainly because one of the people killed was white and they cared more about that at the time. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed segregation in any public areas completely. There wasn't to be any employment discrimination either and the justice department could uphold these laws. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
Anyone was allowed to vote regardless of their skin if they were a US citizen who met the age requirement. If states failed to let people vote who wanted to, the government was allowed to step in and take over the ballots if need be. There were to also be no literacy tests or taxes to be able to vote.