Top 10 from the Civil Rights Era
Kyle Ballard
Brown vs Board of Education
This was a Supreme Court case in 1954 that said it was unconstitutional to establish separate but equal schools for whites and blacks. It was a unanimous decision that overturned the Plessy vs Ferguson ruling.
Montgomery Bus Boycott
This boycott was to protest the racial segregation taking place on public busses. Rosa Parks started the movement when she refused to give up her seat in the 'white section' of a public bus. The boycott last from Dec 1, 1955 to Dec 20, 1956.
Emmett Til
The murder of Emmett Till took place in August of 1955. He was apparently shot after allegedly flirting with a white women. This became an ionic symbol of the cruelty of segregation due to the brutality of the killing of the boy when he was just 14.
Sweatt vs Painter
This case in 1950 set the grounds for the Brown vs Board of Education a few years later. In the case, Heman Sweatt was refused admission into UT on the grounds that the Texas State Constitution prohibited integrated education.
Little Rock Crisis
In 1957, the National Guard was sent to Central HS in Little Rock, Arkansas to prevent 9 black students from enrolling in the school. Governor Orval Faubus was the person responsible for sending the National Guard to prevent the enrollment of the Little Rock Nine.
Formation of the SCLC
Martin Luther King Jr formed the SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference) in 1957 to try and mobilize power for the African Americans and black churches.
Voting Rights Act of 1965
This law outlawed discriminatory voting practices that were responsible for the misfortune of African Americans.
Elimination of Poll Tax
The elimination of the poll tax was the 24th amendment to the Constitution and it got rid of taxes as a requirement for voting. It was passed in 1964.
Sit-In Movements
Sit-In movements between 1955-1965 were one of the nonviolent methods of protests that blacks used to contest the segration of places. Martin Luther King Jr used nonviolent methods of protests which made his movements more popular with the public.
Jackie Robinson
Drafted by the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, Jackie Robinson broke the racial divide in baseball and became the first African American player to be drafted into professional baseball (MLB).