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Nettie Hunt on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court with her daughter. Photo taken from Harvard ED. Magazine.

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"Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka" was a landmark 1954 Supreme Court case which ruled racial segregation of children in public schools as unconstitutional.

However, this event developed an increasing awareness of the fallacy of "separate but equal" doctrines, and revealed the ways that institutions of public education were protected by anti-black legislation as well as the crippling effects it has on black students and their communities. But despite its historical significance and social impact, this verdict was not able to fully achieve its primary goal of integrating U.S. public schools.

The plaintiff, Oliver Brown, filed a class-action suit against the Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, in 1951, after his daughter, Linda Brown, was denied entrance to Topeka’s all-white elementary schools. Brown's case claimed that the "separate but equal" practices in public schools were a violation of the "equal protection clause" in the 14th amendment and were therefore, unconstitutional.

Later, Brown's case was combined with four other cases relating to school segregation and were brought the supreme court in 1952. On may 17, 1954 justices delivered a unanimous verdict which ended legal segregation in public schools.
Although segregation in public schools was ruled unconstitutional, many schools remained segregated in the years following this case because the Supreme Court did not identify exactly how schools should be integrated. The issues were then delegated to more localized city/municipal jurisdictions, where local judicial and political rulings typically eschewed desegregation practices.

The Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education had overturned the "separate but equal" doctrine and would later be used to fight against other laws which enforced segregation in other public places.

Source:
https://www.gse.harvard.edu/news/ed/14/06/brown-60-milliken-40

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photos taken from Center For Black Literature

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On December 1, 1955 Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man on a Montgomery, Alabama bus.

At this time, Alabama law stated that the front of a Montgomery bus was reserved for white citizens, and the seats behind them for Black citizens. Although Parks was seated in the "blacks only" section of the bus, she was asked by the driver to move from her seat once a new white/male passenger boarded and was unable to find a seat in the full "whites only" section.

Parks refused and was later taken in custody by local police for not complying. This single act of resistance sparked a year-long civil protest known as the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Led by Martin Luther King Jr. this protest asked black passengers to refrain from using municipal busses as an act of social and financial resistance to unjust segregation laws. Since nearly 70% of bus riders were black, this protest of civil non-participation led to financial strains for the bussing businesses, as they were losing money without many of their passengers riding or paying fares.

Social and legal pressures from the boycott resulted in another Supreme Court case, where justices ruled that bus segregation was unconstitutional. This finally ended the year long protests and made Rosa Parks a nationally recognized icon of civil disobedience and leader in the civil rights movement.

Source:
https://centerforblackliterature.org/rosa-parks-bus-boycott-civil-rights-facts/

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photo taken from National Archives: Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum & Boyhood Home

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On September 9, 1957 President Eisenhower signed the Civil Rights Act of 1957 into law to help protect voter rights. The law allows for federal prosecution of those who suppress another’s right to vote.

Prior to this act, most black citizens had been disenfranchised by local or state laws, impeding their right to vote.

Although the passing of the act indicated a federal/legislative commitment to civil rights, others who were opposed to the act limited its effectiveness by adding alterations to the bill which made it difficult to enforce. The act restricted itself to only operating during federal elections, and was not easily implemented in small city/state elections.

By 1960 black voter populations had only increased by 3%, proving that the 1957 act needed further review. Later, the Civil Right Act of 1960 addressed some of the previous act's shortcomings and expanded the authority of federal judges to protect voting rights by requiring local authorities to maintain comprehensive voting records for review (so that the government could determine if there were patterns of discrimination against certain populations).

In years following, civil rights activists,  Presidents (JFK) & political leaders worked together to implement more equitable civil rights/voting laws for black Americans.

One of the most notable campaigns, the Birmingham Campaign, helped to introduce the Civil Rights act of 1964 (as well as the Voting Rights act of 1965) into law.

On July 2, 1964 President Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law, preventing employment discrimination due to race, color, sex, religion or national origin. Title VII of the Act establishes the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to help prevent workplace discrimination.

Source:
https://www.eisenhowerlibrary.gov/research/online-documents/civil-rights-act-1957

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Ratification of 24th Amendment (1964) and Voting Rights Act of 1965

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Ratification of 24th Amendment (1964) and Voting Rights Act of 1965

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On August 6, 1965 President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 into law to prevent the use of literacy tests as a voting requirement. It also allowed federal examiners to review voter qualifications and federal observers to monitor polling places.

This act worked in accordance with the passing of the 24th amendment, which prohibits both Congress and the states from conditioning the right to vote in federal elections on payment of a poll tax or other types of tax.

The combination of these two bills established record-keeping and oversight, and provided for federal enforcement in areas with documented patterns of discrimination or low voter turnout.

By prohibiting racial discrimination in voting, and by abolishing the poll tax and other means which kept poor black citizens from registering to vote/participating in electoral processes, these two events helped to enforce more voting rights for colored Americans, especially in the South.

Sources:
https://www.britannica.com/event/Voting-Rights-Act
https://www.politico.com/story/2017/08/06/lbj-signs-voting-rights-act-aug-6-1965-241256

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On April 11, 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1968, also known as the "Fair Housing Act". This bill provided equal housing opportunity to all Americans regardless of race, religion or national origin.

On April 4th– the day that the Senate vote was scheduled to vote on the Act– civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. King's assassination sparked nationwide civil rest and caused the sitting President (Johnson) to increase pressure on Congress to pass the new civil rights legislation.

Despite it being recognized as one of the last major acts of legislation during the civil rights movement, it's effect on the housing market was not immediate. Housing remained segregated in many areas of the United States for years that followed, and issues of accessibility were further complicated by redlining and zoning districts which were formed before the passing of the bill.

This Act can also be linked to the formation of isolated "suburban" areas for white homeowners, and the creation of mostly black "ghettos" in inner city communities.

Source:
https://library.law.howard.edu/civilrightshistory/blackrights/civilrightsacts