MAJOR EVENTS
warning: This page is long! Be prepared to read a lot!
1957 - LITTLE ROCK NINE1957 - CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1957 1961 - FREEDOM RIDES
"At our first stop in Virginia . . . I [was] confronted with what the Southern white has called `separate but equal.' A modern rest station with gleaming counters and picture windows was labelled `White,' and a small wooden shack beside it was tagged `Colored.'" -- Freedom Rider William Mahoney 1963 - MARCH ON WASHINGTON FOR JOBS AND FREEDOM 1964 - CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964 ' 1964 - 24TH AMENDMENT 1965 - VOTING ACT OF 1965 1968 - CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1968 |
Ernest Green, Elizabeth Eckford, Jefferson Thomas, Dr. Terrence Roberts, Carlotta Walls Lanier, Minnijean Brown Trickey, Gloria Ray Karlmark, Thelma Mothershed-Wair, and Melba Pattillo Beals were the students called the Little Rock Nine. In 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education declared segregation in public schools was unconstituitonal. Public schools were instructed to integrate. They were all black students that were determined to enter a school populated with 2,000 white schools in order to desegregate Little Rock Central High School. As they started to integrate they were faced with white parents and students that were angry and aggressive and chastised them everyday. President Eisenhower displaced between 1,100 and 1,200 federal troops of the 101st Airborne Division and placed 10,000 National Guardsmen on duty. “Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site was designated a unit of the National Park Service on November 6, 1998. It is located at the intersection of 14th and Park Streets in Little Rock, Arkansas.” President Eisenhower sent Congress a proposal for legislation and the result was the Civil Rights Act of 1957. This act was aimed at increasing African American voters allowing African Americans the right to vote. In 1957 only 20% of African Americans were registered to vote. CORE undertook a new tactic in 1961 in order to desegregate public transport ion in the south. The first freedom ride was on May 4, 1961. Seven blacks and six blacks headed on a bus down to the deep south. They had to deal with harassment and violence. The violence got worse and many riders were severely beaten and the bus was burned. This extreme violence put pressure on President Kennedy to end it. The March on Washington happened in 1963. There was an estimate of 250,000 people at this event to promote Civil Rights and economic equality for African Americans. The African Americans walked down Constitution and Independence avenues; this was a televised event that contained dramatic moments. One dramatic moment was Martin Luther King Jr’s speech “I Have a Dream.” The march was a memorable moment for not only African Americans but, people who watched it on T.V. It was a complex event. It was a nonviolent protest. This march was planned by A. Philip Randolph. He was sponsored by many Civil Rights organizations. At 11 o’clock 200,000 people showed up at Washington Monument. He and his crew have been planning nonviolent protest for many years and this was their biggest one. The civil right act prohibits discrimination on race, color, religion, sex or national origin. This act canceled the “Jim Crow laws” which was connected to the Plessy vs Ferguson trial. The supreme court stated that “separate but equal,” was constitutional. Civil rights act of 1964, congress helped expand and strengthen enforcement on fundamental civil rights. The House Judiciary Committee held many hearings to propose legislation during 1963. Throughout October and November many major events happened. President Kennedy on November 27, 1963 got assassinated before the act was passed. After Kennedy was assassinated Lyndon was announced as president. Finally, on February 10, 1964 the Civil Rights Act was passed. Civil Rights was proposed seven years earlier to the Senate leader Mike Mansfield. He successfully kept the bill away from the committee. March 30, 1964 members of the Senate had debates about the civil rights act. After 54 days a bill was announced. All of the Houses were able to agree on everything was said in it. The Civil Rights Act was passed and made a future for no more discrimination The 24th amendment is about the Poll Tax Barred. It takes away the fee to vote for any officials. United States citizens can vote for primary or other elections for the President or the Vice President. Also, to vote for electors for Vice President, President, Senator, or Representative in Congress. This amendment also states that the votes cannot be denied by the Untied States or any States that do not pay poll tax or any tax. 1960, African Americans were still being harassed about voting and getting voting rights. Only five percent of blacks were registered to vote. In 1961 CORE, joined SCLC to promote nonviolent demonstrations in Georgia and Birmingham. This group was hoping for attention from national media and wanted to put pressure on the U.S. government to protect Black’s rights. In 1965 local people held several march events to insist equal rights to vote. An event in Birmingham, there was one event that ended up getting violent. After the event in Selma, “Bloody Sunday” Johnson held a televised speech and denounced the assault. Two days after the speech President Johnson wrote and sent the Voting Right bill to congress. When the bill went into effect there were about 60 percent of African Americans registered to vote by 1968. Also, between 1965 and 1990, in congress there went from two African Americans in there too 160. President Lyndon Johnson, in 1966 he failed to have a civil rights bill passed about fair housing provision. The assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. influenced that there needed a bill to be past about fair housing. Two years later, on April 11, 1968 the Fair Housing Act was introduced. This banned decimation in the sale and rental of 80 percent of housing. You couldn’t discriminate by race, religion, and gender. People also introduce this act by calling it the Indian Civil Right Act. Also, it limited anti-riots provisions and protect people from exercising certain rights. For example, being told to be on a jury or going to school |