Who were the most influential people of the American Civil Rights Era?

The Jim Crow Laws were a series of laws that were passed in the United States between 1876 and 1965, although many of these laws were already in place immediately after the Civil War and during the Reconstruction era.

These laws enforced segregation and racial discrimination against African Americans.

During this time, a landmark case occurred in the US Supreme Court in 1896. Known as 'Plessy v. Ferguson', it stated that racial segregation laws did not conflict with the US Constitution, as long as the facilities for each race were equal. 

Known by the catchphrase “separate but equal”, this ruling was used as a justification for racism.

This meant that African Americans were required to use separate facilities from white people and were often treated unfairly in the criminal justice system.

Another outcome was many African Americans were hampered from voting in elections due to tactics like literacy tests and poll taxes.

Also, facilities like schools, hospitals, and transportation were segregated, meaning that African Americans had to go to different buildings or use different buses than white Americans.

In reality, they were never truly 'equal'. Rail carriages for African Americans were made of cheaper materials, schools received less funding, and African Americans were denied access to the most expensive restaurants.

The NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) was formed in 1909 by W.E.B Du Bois and a group of African American intellectuals and civil rights activists, including Ida B. Wells, Archibald Grimké, and white progressives like Mary White Ovington and Oswald Garrison Villard.

This organisation fought for the civil rights of African Americans during the Jim Crow era and beyond.

It is the oldest civil rights organisation in the United States and it specifically sought 'equality before the law'.

In 1954, an important legal case occurred which challenged the segregation laws in many states.

This case was started by Oliver Brown, an African American father who lived in Topeka, Kansas.

He sued his local school board because his eight-year-old daughter, Linda, had to walk through a dangerous rail yard every day to her segregated school when there was a white school much closer by.

In the case, which became known as 'Brown v. Board of Education', it was argued that the child's safety was at risk and that it was fundamentally unconstitutional.

Ultimately, the Supreme Court agreed and declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students to be unconstitutional.

Therefore, it ruled that schools could no longer be segregated based upon race.

This landmark decision helped to bring about equal education for all races in the United States. 

This required all public schools to be desegregated, and it overturned the previous Plessy vs Ferguson ruling which allowed for “separate but equal” facilities for different races.

Rosa Parks is often cited as the mother of the American Civil Rights movement. Parks was born in Tuskegee, Alabama in 1913.

After working as a seamstress and civil rights activist, she became the secretary of the Montgomery chapter of the NAACP. 

In December 1955, she refused to give up her bus seat to a white person in Montgomery, Alabama, and was consequently arrested. 

Her arrest sparked outrage and a group of activists, called the Montgomery Improvement Association, began the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Thy were led by Martin Luther King and included other key figures such as E.D. Nixon and Jo Ann Robinson.

The boycott aimed to get the Montgomery Bus Company to desegregate its buses. African Americans refused to ride the buses for over a year until the company finally capitulated.

In 1957, nine African American students were chosen to attend Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas.

This school was previously all-white but had been ordered by the Supreme Court to be desegregated as a result of the Brown vs the Board of Education decision. 

However, when these students attempted to attend the school, they were met by a mob of angry white protesters who tried to block them. 

Also, the Arkansas governor, Orval Faubus, sent in the National Guard to prevent the students from entering.

In response, President Eisenhower sent in the 101st Airborne Division to enforce integration and later federalized the Arkansas National Guard to remove it from Faubus's control. 

As a result, the children were eventually able to attend the high school.

This event helped bring national attention to the struggle for civil rights in the United States.

In January 1960, an African American college student called Joseph McNeil, tried to buy a meal at a local lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina.

He was refused based upon his race. Outraged, he and three of his college roommates from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College, Franklin McCain, Ezell Blair Jr. (now Jibreel Khazan), and David Richmond, decided to hold a peaceful protest to bring attention to the racist policies of many local business.

They sat down at the “white only” lunch counter and refused to move until they were served. 

The store manager closed the counter rather than serve them.

However, the next day, more students joined them, bringing the number of protestors to 27.

As each day passed and they were refused service, the numbers increased. On day three, 63 students participated and, by the end of the week, 600 turned up to show their support.

The students took turns on the seats when others had to attend classes or family commitments.

The police were asked to arrest the protestors, which they did, but it had no effect. Eventually, the shop owners gave in.

This successful act of defiance started a movement that involved black Americans sitting in at white-only restaurants, businesses, and other public places across the country.

It showed that nonviolence could bring media pressure on businesses to end unjust rules. 

In 1961, a group of black and white civil rights activists rode buses from Washington D.C. to New Orleans in an effort to end segregation on public transportation.

These rides were organised by CORE (Congress of Racial Equality). Specifically, they wanted to test the Supreme Court's decision in Boynton v. Virginia (1960), which declared segregation in interstate bus and rail stations unconstitutional.

When the riders arrived in Alabama, they were met by a hostile white mob that attacked the buses.

Several riders were injured as a result of severe beatings and violence from the crowd. Despite these dangers, the Freedom Rides continued until they reached New Orleans. 

The protesters were arrested in Alabama and Mississippi, but the rides helped to bring national attention to the issue of segregation on public transportation.

The Freedom Rides led to federal enforcement of desegregation in interstate bus travel.

Martin Luther King Jr is one of the most well-known figures in the American Civil Rights movement.

He was a leader of the nonviolent resistance movement and spoke out against discrimination and racism.

King was born in 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia. He studied theology at Boston University and became a pastor at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama.

In 1955, he led the successful Montgomery Bus Boycott and helped to found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC).

In 1963, Martin Luther King Jr gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

This march was organised to demand civil and economic rights for African Americans.

Over 250,000 people attended, which meant that it was one of the largest demonstrations for human rights in U.S. history.

King’s speech called for an end to racism and discrimination, and it is considered one of the most important speeches in American history.

He also urged Congress to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which outlawed discrimination based on race, colour, religion, sex or national origin. 

King was assassinated in 1968, but his legacy continues to inspire people around the world.

Perhaps a lesser-known figure today, Malcolm X was a prominent figure in the Nation of Islam, which advocated for black supremacy and self-defense.

His views evolved over time, particularly after his pilgrimage to Mecca, where he embraced a more inclusive and universal approach to human rights.

After leaving the Nation of Islam religious and political organisation in 1964, he became a more mainstream advocate for civil rights and racial equality. 

Malcolm X is best known for his controversial views on race and his calls for black self-reliance.

He was assassinated in 1965, but his legacy has been influential among African Americans and other minority groups. 

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a landmark piece of legislation that outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

This act helped to bring about equal rights for all Americans. It was initially proposed by President John F. Kennedy in 1963 and was signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson in 1964. 

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 helped to end segregation in public places, banned employment discrimination.

This was followed by the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which aimed to overcome legal barriers at the state and local levels that prevented African Americans from exercising their right to vote and resulted in a dramatic increase in Black voter registration and participation in the South.

Three years later, the Fair Housing Act of 1968 made it illegal to deny someone housing based on their race or ethnicity

These acts were a major victory for the American Civil Rights movement, and it paved the way for further progress towards equality.