1954. Oliver Brown lived in Kansas, where schools were legally segregated. He was forced to send his daughter to the all-black school 20 blocks away, instead of the whites-only school 5 blocks away. Brown challenged this in law courts.
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Brown vs. Topeka (2) - 1954
The NAACP supported him as they thought the case would succeed as Kansas was a border state. The Supreme Court ruled that separate education was 'psychologically harmful to black children"
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Significance of Brown vs. Topeka
Brown removed all constitutional sanction of segregation (however no specific date as to when desegregation would be achieved was given). Brown engendered white backlash; in 1956-1969, Virginia whites staged 'massive resistance' campaigns.
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Significance of Brown vs. Topeka (2)
Schools chose to close rather than desegregate. White Citizens' Councils were formed, and by 1956 had roughly 250,000 members. Also, the KKK was revitalized as a result of the ruling.
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Murder of Emmett Till - 1955
14 year old Chicagoan Emmet Till was visiting Southern relations. He spoke to/flirted with/wolf-whistled at a white woman, and his body was found mutilated in the Mississippi River. His white murderers went unpunished
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Expulsion of Autherine Lucy - 1956
Autherine successfully took the University of Alabama to federal court so she could become its first black student. She was quickly expelled in 1956. Eisenhower did not intervene, despite promising he would always support federal court orders.
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Montgomery bus boycott - 1956
Seen as the 'start of the modern civil rights movement'. Black citizens refused to move seats from the 'white section' of buses. E.g. Rosa Parks refused to give her seat to a white man and was arrested in December, 1955
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Browder v. Gayle - 1956
Supreme Court ruling that ensured the desegregation of Montogmery's buses following the Montgonmery bus boycott
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Little Rock Crisis - 1957
When 9 African-American students attempted to enter Central High School in Arkansas, an abusive white mob surrounded and harassed them. Eisenhower's intervention in the crisis was criticised by many, including Kennedy and Johnson
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Civil Rights Act - 1957
This bill ensured black voting rights, however it was considerably weakened by Southern Democrats. It was considered a 'nauseating sham' by many, but King said 'the present bill is far better than no bill at all.'
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Cooper v. Aaron - 1958
Supreme court ruling which denied the Arkansas School Board the right to delay desegregation for 30 months
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Civil Rights Act - 1960
Again, this was diluted by the Southern Democrats, but was eventually passed because both parties sought the black vote. It made segregation in schools a federal crime, and established penalties for the obstruction of black voting
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Student sit-ins - 1960
February 1960, Greensboro, North Carolina. 4 black students refused to leave an all-white Woolworth's cafe when asked. As many as 70,000 students later participated in sit-ins across the South which helped erode the Jim Crowe laws.
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Other cards in this set
Card 2
Front
Brown vs. Topeka (2) - 1954
Back
The NAACP supported him as they thought the case would succeed as Kansas was a border state. The Supreme Court ruled that separate education was 'psychologically harmful to black children"
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