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NAACP
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was one of the earliest and most influential civil rights organization in the United States. The NAACP focused on legal strategies designed to confront the critical civil rights issues of the day. They called for anti-lynching laws and created a series of challenges to state-sponsored segregation in public schools, an effort that led to the landmark 1954 Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education. -
Brown V Board
Brown V. Board of Education, now acknowledged as one of the greatest Supreme Court decisions of the 20th century, was a court case based on the argument that racial segregation of children in public schools violated the Fourteenth Amendment.The decision held that racial segregation of children in public schools violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. This was important to the Civil Rights movement due to the fact it helped make equal education possible. -
Emmett Till Murder
On August 28, 1955, two white men beat 14 year old Emmett Till nearly to death, gouged out his eye, shot him in the head, and then threw his body into the river. This was simply due to the young boy saying "bye baby" to a white woman in a store on his way out. This caused much uproar and marked a major start in the Civil Rights Movement due to the realization of how horrible colored people were treated. -
Little Rock Crisis, 1957
In 1957, in Little Rock, Arkansas, nine colored students were accepted into Central High School. However, when ariving on their first day of school they were greeted by an angry mob of white americans giving physical threats, screams, and racial slurs. On September 20, 1957, Federal Judge Ronald Davies ordered Governor Faubus to remove the national guard and allow integration take its course in Little Rock. -
The Sit-In Movement
Four African American college students walked up to a whites-only lunch counter at the local WOOLWORTH'S store in Greensboro, North Carolina, and asked for coffee. When service was refused, the students sat patiently. Despite threats the students sat quietly and waited to be served. This encouraged colored people to stand up and defend their rights. -
Freedom Riders
In the South during desegregation, blacks had to ride in the back of the bus. A group of both black and white americans tested the issue of segregation by purposely riding to the South while sitting in the front of the bus and using white restrooms/facilities. Colored people faced physical and emotional abuse by other white americans during this movement. This raised much attention and in time state authorities issued rules prohibiting segregated transportation facilities. -
Civil Rights Act 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is known as one of the most legislative achievements of the civil rights movement.The Act outlawed discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, required equal access to public places and employment, and enforced desegregation of schools and the right to vote. Although it did not completely end discrimination at first, it did open the door to further progress.
