1870s-1960s Jim Crow Laws put in effect
1896- Plessey v Ferguson- Supreme Court est. “separate but equal”- legalizing Jim Crow
Great Migration- African Americans moved from South to northern cities in WWI and WWII
1942- CORE used sit-down strikes to integrate in north
1954- Brown v Board- Struck down Plessey- outlawed segregation in schools
1955-Rosa Parks Starts Montgomery Bus Boycott
1957 SCLC formed- wanted to end segregation and register African Americans to vote
1957 Army desegregation of Central High School in Little Rock Arkansas
1960- Greensboro 4 Sit-In at Woolworths for desegregation- spread nationwide
1961- Freedom Riders- got South to integrate interstate buses and terminals
1962- James Meredith desegregates Univ. of Mississippi- riots
1963 Violence in Birmingham protesting against segregation w/MLK arrested- Letter from Birmingham Jail
1963- Gov. George Wallace tries to block desegregation of Univ. of Alabama
Aug 28, 1963 March on Washington- “I Have A Dream” Speech
1964 Civil Rights Act- banned segregation
1965 Selma March for Voting Rights- Bloody Sunday
1965- Voting Rights Act- protected African Americans right to vote
1965 Watts Riot
1967 Detroit Riots
1967 Kerner Commission- Government report into race riots- blamed white racism
1967-1968 Chicago Movement- MLK focused on poverty and poor housing
April 4, 1968 MLK Killed- riots in hundreds of cities
1971 Swann v Charlotte-Mecklenburg- busing to get racial and economic diversity is constitutional
1970s-Today Affirmative Action- preferences given minorities in college admissions for diversity
1978 University of Calif. V Bakke- Affirmative Action upheld
Today – 1st African American President, but economic, educational, and other issues persist
Affirmative Action Overturned
In 2023 the Supreme Court in a 6-3 decision overturned affirmative action in case Students for Fair Admissions v Harvard and UNC
End of the Voting Rights Act