CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT

IN THE LAST 100 YEARS

OVER THE PAST ONE HUNDRED YEARS, THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT HAS MADE GREAT STRIDES
TOWARD BRINGING EQUALITY TO AMERICA. OUR TIMELINE OF SELECTED EVENTS STARTS IN WORLD
WAR II WITH THE SEGREGATED UNITS, INCLUDING THE HIGHLY DECORATED TUSKEGEE AIRMEN. WHILE
STEPS WERE MADE TO DESEGREGATE THE MILITARY, THE COUNTRY WAS STILL IN TURMOIL, WITH HATRED
SHOWING ITSELF ON WHAT SEEMED LIKE EVERY CORNER. COURTS MADE RULINGS AND AMERICANS
PROTESTED ON BOTH SIDES OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS ISSUE. AFRICAN AMERICAN HEROES LIKE ROSA PARKS
AND MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. WERE ELEVATED INTO THE NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT, WHITE THEIR
ADVERSARIES LIKE ALABAMA GOVERNOR GEORGE WALLACE AND ARKANSAS GOVERNOR ORVAL
FAUBUS DEFIANTLY TRIED TO STAND THEIR GROUND IN DEFENSE. BUT TIME WOULD EVENTUALLY PREVAIL
AND THE CIVIL RIGHTS ISSUES GREW OVERWHELMINGLY STRONGER UNTIL EVEN THE STAUNCHEST
DEFENSE FALTERED AND DESEGREGATION FAILED. BUT EVEN THOUGH WE HAVE MADE GREAT STRIDES,
THE ISSUES STILL ABOUND, AS EVIDENCED BY THE ACTIVISM OF THE BLACK LIVES MATTER MOVEMENT
THAT BEGAN IN 2013. ALL OF THIS IS JUST PURE EVIDENCE OF AMERICA’S TROUBLED PAST AND THE
MOVEMENT TO BRING US CLOSER TO THE MEANING OF THAT PHRASE IN THE DECLARATION OF
INDEPENDENCE THAT ALL MEN ARE TRULY CREATED EQUAL.
THE TUSKEGEE AIRMEN
WORLD WAR II

• AT THE ONSET OF WORLD WAR II, APPROXIMATELY

2.5 MILLION AFRICAN AMERICANS REGISTERED
FOR THE DRAFT, WITH OVER 1 MILLION SERVING IN
THE ARMED FORCES.(OPENSTAX 2014) MOST OF
THEM AT THE BEGINNING OF THE WAR SAW LITTLE
COMBAT AS THEY SERVED IN SEGREGATED SUPPORT
UNITS.(OPENSTAX 2014) TOWARD THE END OF THE
WAR THERE WAS A NEED FOR TROOPS AND THESE
UNITS WERE SENT INTO BATTLE.(OPENSTAX 2014)
THE TUSKEGEE AIRMEN WAS ONE SUCH
DISTINGUISHED UNIT THAT WAS MADE UP OF
AFRICAN AMERICAN PILOTS.(OPENSTAX 2014)

The original uploader was Signaleer at English Wikipedia. [Public domain]

EXECUTIVE ORDER 9981
JULY 26, 1948

• AFTER THE END OF WORLD WAR II, PRESIDENT

HARRY S. TRUMAN MADE AN EXECUTIVE ORDER
THAT ENDED SEGREGATION IN THE
MILITARY.(EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 9981 1948) “IT IS
HEREBY DECLARED TO BE THE POLICY OF THE
PRESIDENT THAT THERE SHALL BE EQUALITY OF
TREATMENT AND OPPORTUNITY FOR ALL PERSONS IN
THE ARMED SERVICES WITHOUT REGARD TO RACE,
COLOR, RELIGION OR NATIONAL
ORIGIN.”(EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 9981 1948)

Executive Order No. 9981, 1948

BROWN V. BOARD OF EDUCATION
MAY 17, 1954

• ON MAY 17, 1954, THE US SUPREME COURT RULED IN

A 9-0 UNANIMOUS DECISION THAT THE RACIAL
SEGREGATION THAT WAS OCCURRING IN
SCHOOLHOUSES ACROSS THE NATION WAS
UNCONSTITUTIONAL.(LOCKE & WRIGHT, 2019) THE
PRINCIPLE OF “SEPARATE BUT EQUAL” EXISTED, MEANING
THAT EVEN THOUGH SCHOOLS WERE CONSIDERED
EQUAL, THERE WAS UNEVEN FUNDING, RESOURCES, AND
BUILDINGS WHICH CREATED A VERY SIGNIFICANT
INEQUALITY.(LOCKE & WRIGHT, 2019) THOUGH THE
RULING WAS SIGNIFICANT, IT WASN’T UNTIL SEVERAL
YEARS LATER THAT DESEGREGATION BEGAN IN MOST
SCHOOLS.(LOCKE & WRIGHT, 2019) United Press International telephoto [Public domain]
ROSA PARKS
DECEMBER 1, 1955

• ON DECEMBER 1, 1955 A YOUNG AFRICAN AMERICAN

WOMAN IN MONTGOMERY, AL REFUSED TO GIVE UP HER
SEAT FOR A WHITE INDIVIDUAL ON A SEGREGATED
BUS.(OPENSTAX 2014) HER ARREST SPARKED A MASSIVE
BOYCOTT OF PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION THAT LASTED 381
DAYS UNTIL THE ALABAMA FEDERAL COURT, AND
SUBSEQUENTLY THE US SUPREME COURT, FOUND THE
SEGREGATED SYSTEM UNCONSTITUTIONAL.(OPENSTAX
2014) THE BOYCOTT AND THE ACTIVISM THAT OCCURRED
GAVE RISE TO A YOUNG MINISTER BY THE NAME OF
MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. WHO BECAME A NATIONAL
SPOKESPERSON FOR THE CIVIL RIGHTS
MOVEMENT.(OPENSTAX 2014)

John Matthew Smith

LITTLE ROCK NINE
SEPTEMBER 3, 1957

• FOLLOWING THE BROWN V. BOARD OF EDUCATION RULING

THAT DECLARED SEGREGATED SCHOOLS UNCONSTITUTIONAL
IN 1955, THERE WAS A LACK OF INTEREST TO DESEGREGATE
THOSE SCHOOLS UNTIL SUBSEQUENT COURT RULINGS BEGAN
TO FORCE THOSE SCHOOLS TO DO IT.(OPENSTAX 2014) ON
SEPTEMBER 3, 1957 THE LITTLE ROCK ARKANSAS SCHOOL
BOARD BEGAN THE DESEGREGATION PROCESS, TO THE
DISMAY OF MANY, INCLUDING ARKANSAS GOVERNOR
ORVAL FAUBUS. GOV.(OPENSTAX 2014) FAUBUS CALLED
OUT THE NATIONAL GUARD IN AN ATTEMPT TO PREVENT NINE
AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDENTS FROM ENTERING THE ALL-
WHITE SCHOOL.(OPENSTAX 2014) UPON HEARING THIS,
PRESIDENT EISENHOWER PLACED THE ARKANSAS NATIONAL
GUARD UNDER FEDERAL CONTROL AND SENT IN THE 101ST
AIRBORNE TO ESCORT THE STUDENTS TO AND FROM
SCHOOL.(OPENSTAX 2014)

US Army [Public domain]

MARCH ON WASHINGTON
AUGUST 28, 1863

• IN AUGUST OF 1963, MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.

AND OTHER CIVIL RIGHTS LEADERS LED A MARCH
ON WASHINGTON, D.C. TO BRING THEIR PLIGHT
TO THE NATIONAL FOREFRONT.(OPENSTAX 2014)
OVERLOOKING THE CAPITAL FROM THE STEPS OF
THE LINCOLN MEMORIAL, KING, JR. SPOKE THOSE
NOW INFAMOUS WORDS: “I HAVE A
DREAM!”(OPENSTAX 2014) WITH OVER
200,000 IN ATTENDANCE, THEIR GOAL WAS TO
FORCE POLITICIANS TO PASS LEGISLATION WHICH
WOULD END DISCRIMINATION ONCE-AND-FOR-
ALL.(OPENSTAX 2014)

National Archives at College Park [Public domain]

BLACK LIVES MATTER
2013

• THE BLACK LIVES MATTER MOVEMENT BEGAN

IN 2013, FOLLOWING THE SHOOTING OF
UNARMED TEENAGER TRAYVON MARTIN IN
FEBRUARY OF 2012.(GALLAGHER 2018) THE
MOVEMENT HAS OFTEN BEEN COMPARED
WITH VIOLENT CIVIL RIGHTS PROTESTS THAT
WERE ADVOCATED BY MALCOLM
X.(GALLAGHER 2018) THOUGH THE
PROTESTS ARE TYPICALLY CONFRONTATIONAL
AND DISRUPTIVE, ACTIVISTS CLAIM THAT THEY
ARE NOT DIRECTED AT THE POLICE, BUT
RATHER BAD POLICE POLICIES.(GALLAGHER
2018)
John Minchillo/AP
WORKS CITED

• AMERICAN CIVILIZATION: A BRIEF HISTORY, HIST-1700 (OPENSTAX COLLEGE, 2014), 190,

216.
• GALLAGHER, M. (2018, OCTOBER 12). BLACK LIVES MATTER: THE 21ST CENTURY CIVIL
RIGHTS MOVEMENT? RETRIEVED FROM HTTPS://ONEILL.LAW.GEORGETOWN.EDU/BLACK-LIVES-
MATTER-THE-21ST-CENTURY-CIVIL-RIGHTS-MOVEMENT/

• LOCKE, J. L., & WRIGHT, B. (2019). THE AMERICAN YAWP: A MASSIVELY COLLABORATIVE
OPEN U.S. HISTORY TEXTBOOK, VOL. 2: SINCE 1877. STANFORD: STANFORD UNIVERSITY
PRESS.