Civil Rights "Top Ten"
Willy Solari, Furnish 4
10. Little Rock Central High School: Little Rock, Arkansas
-Little Rock school board voted to integrate schools
-National Guard prevents children from attending schools
-Arkansas governor, Faubus, closed schools for 1958-1959 school year
9. Civil Rights Act of 1964: Washington, District of Colombia
-Congress passes law forbidding discrimination in many areas of life:
Hotels
Voting
Employment
Schools
-July 1964
-Under Lyndon B. Johnson's Presidency
8. Executive Order 8802: Washington, District of Colombia
-Fair Employment Practices Commission
-Non-discrimination policies in federal hiring
-Under presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt
7. Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Assassinated: Memphis, Tennessee/
-MX was killed prior to giving a speech by several black opponents
-King was killed in a hotel hallway by James Earl Ray
-Assassinations started riots in 125 cities
6. 24th Amendment Passed: Washington, District of Colombia
-Poll tax is outlawed (Prevented blacks from voting)
-Black voter registration increases
-Candidates start to turn away from white supremacy views in attempt to attract black voters
5. Brown vs. Board of Education: Topeka, Kansas
-Supreme Court reverses Plessy decision
-Ruled public segregation unconstitutional
-Schools are ordered to desegregate "with all deliberate speed"
4. MLK's "I Have A Dream," Speech/March on Washington: Washington, District of Colombia
-More than 200,000 Americans marched towards Lincoln Memorial in protest
-August 28, 1963
-Partially credited with passing of "Civil Rights Act" (1964) and the "Voting Rights Act" (1965)
-Called for Civil and Economic Rights for African Americans
3. Montgomery Bus Boycott: Montgomery, Alabama
-Spurred by the actions of Rosa Parks in 1955
-ended bus segregation
-1955 through 1957
2. Jackie Robinson: Pasadena, California
-Broke Color Barrier with Brooklyn Dodgers
-Spurred further black integration in sports
-1947
1. Rosa Parks: Montgomery, Alabama
-Arrested for sitting in "White Only," section of a bus
-1955
-Catalyst for Montgomery bus Boycott