CIVIL RIGHTS MINI BIO IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER
HERE WE GO !!!!!!!!!!
TO NOTE THESE ARE AND ALL HAVE BEEN THOROUGHLY RESEARCHED WITH THE BEST INTEGRITY USING THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS AND NEWSPAPER ARCHIVES. SOME ARE NOT MENTIONED BUT IN PARTICULAR THE ROSEWOOD MASSACRE , THE MISSISSIPPI BURNING.ALL PHOTOS COULD NOT BE ATTACHED DUE TO SPACE AVAILABILITY.
MARCH 6, 1857
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the Dred Scott decision to deny citizenship and constitutional rights to all black people, legally establishing the race as “subordinate, inferior beings — whether slave or freedmen.
JAN. 1, 1863
Emancipation Proclamation issued by President Lincoln freed slaves in the Confederate states.
DEC 6, 1865
The 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution abolished slavery. However, Southern states managed to revive slavery era codes creating unattainable prerequisites for blacks to live, work or participate in society. The following year, the First Civil Rights Act invalidated these “Black Codes,” conferring the “rights of citizenship” on all black people.
JULY 9, 1868
The 14th Amendment granted due process and equal protection under the law to African American
FEB. 3, 1870
The 15th Amendment granted blacks the right to vote, including former slaves.
MARCH 1, 1875
Congress passed a third Civil Rights Act in response to many white business owners and merchants who refused to make their facilities and establishments equally available to black people. The Civil Rights Act of 1875 prohibited such cases of racial discrimination and guaranteed equal access to public accommodations regardless of race or color. White supremacist groups, however, embarked upon a campaign against blacks and their white supporters.
MAY 18, 1896
The U.S. Supreme Court decision in Plessy v. Ferguson upheld an 1890 Louisiana statute mandating racially segregated but equal railroad cars. The ruling stated the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution dealt with political and not social equality. Plessy v. Ferguson gave a broad interpretation of “equal but separate” accommodations with reference to “white and colored people” legitimizing “Jim Crow” practices throughout the South.
Civill rights 1900: facts truth
Lynching has become virtually a fact of life as a means for intimidating African Americans. Between 1886 and 1900, there are more than 2,500 lynchings in the nation, the vast majority in the Deep South. In the first year of the new century, more than 100 African Americans are lynched, and by World War I, more than 1100.
1910:
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is founded by W.E.B Du Bois, Jane Addams, John Dewey and others.
The Mexican Revolution brings an influx of immigrants to the United States looking for work.
1912:
The Mexican ambassador formally protests the mistreatment of Mexicans in the United States, citing a number of brutal lynchings and murders.
1916:
Rep. Jeannette Rankin (R-Mont.) Becomes first woman elected to Congress.
1917:
The JONES ACT grants full citizenship to Puerto Ricans and gives them the right to travel freely to the continental United States. However, because Puerto Rico is not a state, like citizens in the District of Columbia, Puerto Ricans are represented in Congress by a delegate with only limited powers and are unrepresented in the Senate.
FEB. 12, 1909
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was founded by a multi-racial group of activists in New York, N.Y. Initially, the group called themselves the National Negro Committee. Founders Ida Wells-Barnett, W.E.B. DuBois, Henry Moscowitz, Mary White Ovington, Oswald Garrison Villiard and William English Walling led the call to renew the struggle for civil and political liberty.
1920:
The Nineteenth Amendment gives women the right to vote and is ratified by the required 36 states.
1922:
In Ozawa v. United States, the Supreme Court denies Japanese residents the right to naturalization because they are “ineligible for citizenship,” as are foreign-born Chinese. In Congress, the Cable Act declares that “any woman citizen who marries an alien ineligible to citizenship, shall cease to be a citizen.”
1924:
After 10,000 Native American soldiers in World War I, Congress passes the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924, granting American citizenship to Native Americans. Several Indian nations, including the Hopi and the Iroquois, decline citizenship in favor of retaining sovereign nationhood.
The Immigration Act bars any “aliens ineligible to citizenship” from entering the United States.
1928:
The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) is founded to fight discrimination, help educate Chicanos and protest segregation, killings and other abuses.
1930:
Continuing discrimination against Japanese in the United States leads to formation of the Japanese American Citizenship League.
Mass deportation occurs of Mexican workers during the 1930’s large numbers of whom are U.S. citizens. Over 400,000 are deported to Mexico; the deportees are accused of usurping “Americans” from jobs during the Depression.
1939:
African American contralto, Marian Anderson, barred by the Daughters of the American Revolution from singing in Washington D.C.’s Constitution Hall, sings instead to a crowd of 75,000 people at Lincoln Memorial.
The Legal Defense Fund established as the legislative arm of the NAACP. A year later the two become separate organizations.
1941:
President Roosevelt issues executive order banning discrimination against minorities in defense contracts.
1942:
U.S. government places in barbed wire encircled “relocation camps” some 110,000 Japanese Americans. Guards are ordered to shoot anyone seeking to leave.
The Bracero Program, created under a joint U.S.-Mexico agreement, permits Mexican nationals to work in U.S. agricultural areas on a temporary basis and at wages lower than domestic workers.
1943:
Congress, seeking to reward China for becoming an ally in the war against Germany and Japan, repeals all previous Asian Exclusion Acts and establishes an annual quota of 105 Chinese emigrants to the United States each year.
1947:
Jackie Robinson becomes first African American to play major league baseball.
July 26, 1948
President Truman signs Executive Order 9981, which states, “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.
1948:
Supreme Court, in Shelly v. Kramer, declares illegal the government support enforcement of restrictive covenants under which private parties could exclude minorities from buying homes in white neighborhoods.
Democratic party endorses civil rights platform, prompting Southern walkout and formation of States Rights Democratic Party (better known as the Dixiecrats) and nomination of Strom Thurmond as presidential candidate.
1952:
Tuskegee Institute reports that, for the first time in the 71 years it has been keeping records, there were no lynchings of African Americans during the year.
MAY 17, 1954
The U.S. Supreme Court’s unanimously ruled in the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas that public school segregation was unconstitutional and paved the way for desegregation. The decision overturned the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson ruling that said “separate educational facilities were inherently unequal.” It was a victory for NAACP attorney Thurgood Marshall, who argued the case and later returned to the Supreme Court as the nation’s first African-American Supreme Court justice.
1989:
The Supreme Court, in a series of rulings, severely restricts the reach of federal anti-discrimination employment laws and remedies available to fight bias. The move prompts congressional effort to craft new law overturning the Court decision.
1990:
Congress passes -and President Bush signs- the landmark Americans With Disabilities Act, banning job discrimination against people with disabilities and requiring buildings, businesses and public transportation to be accessible. Most provisions take effect in 11992-93.
1991:
Thurgood Marshall, first African American appointed to Supreme Court, resigns for health reasons. President Bush names Clarence Thomas, a conservative African American with little background in constitutional issues, to the post. The Thomas nomination brings to the fore the issue of sexual harassment, as one of Thomas’ former co-workers, law professor Anita Hill, charges Thomas sexually harassed her. Thomas denies accusations and after bitter, televise hearings that rivet the nation, he is confirmed, 52-48.
After two years of debate, vetoes and threatened vetoes, Bush reverses himself and says proposed civil rights bill is not a “quota bill.” On Nov. 22, he signs the legislation at a White House ceremony. But ceremony is overshadowed by reports that the president has proposed issuing a presidential order that would end all government affirmative action programs and hiring guidelines that benefit women and minorities. After sharply negative reactions from civil rights leaders and others, the administration backs down.
1992:
Voting Rights Act bilingual provisions are extended to 2007.
1993:
Shortly after being sworn in, President Clinton affirms his campaign pledge to lift the ban that prohibits gays from serving in the military. On April 25, at least 300,000 (the figure is hotly debated) march on Washington supporting federal civil rights legislation protecting gay men and lesbians from discrimination and opposing the military ban. Several months later on July 19, President Clinton, faced with congressional opposition to removing the ban, announces a “don’t ask, don’t tell, don’t pursue” policy regarding homosexuals in the military that falls short of lifting the ban. Congress moves to codify a restrictive interpretation of Clinton’s executive order.
The Supreme Court, in two rulings affecting civil rights, roils the waters for determining proper remedies for discrimination. In St. Mary’s Honor Center v. Hicks the Court holds that even when a plaintiff shows that an employer gives a dishonest reason for alleged discriminatory actions, the worker is still required to present direct evidence of the employers discriminatory intent.
In Shaw v. Reno , a sharply divided High Court rules that legislative districts drawn in a “bizarre” fashion in order to create black representation can violate the constitutional rights of white voters to equal protection of the law. The ruling, which invalidates North Carolina’s majority African American 12th congressional district, is seen as opening the door to challenges of other states’ reapportionment plans that are aimed at equalizing the distribution of power.
1997:
June 14, in a 5-4 decision the Supreme Court upheld a court-drawn redistricting plan that reduced the number of majority-minority Georgia congressional districts from three to one. The cases of Abrams v. Johnson and the U.S. v. Johnson marked the second time the Court had been asked to rule on the constitutionality of Georgia’s congressional redistricting plan drawn pursuant to the 1990 Census. A deciding factor for the justices was the fact that Reps. Sanford Bishop Jr. and Cynthia McKinney, both Black Democrats, were re-elected despite the fact that they were running in districts where whites comprised the majority.
1994:
In Adarand, the Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 vote for the first time that all federal laws creating racial classifications, regardless of an intention to burden or benefit minorities, when challenged, must be tested by the same stringent standard. Federal set-aside and affirmative action programs benefitting minorities then are subject to strict scrutiny and must be narrowly tailored.
1996:
Supporters of gay workers rights forced a vote on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) in the 104th Congress. ENDA, if passed, would make it illegal to fire, or fail to hire or promote an individual on the singular factor of their sexual orientation. The bill enjoyed wide bi- partisan support, failing in the Republican dominated Senate by only one vote. A formal hearing for ENDA was held in the 105th Congress on October 23, 1997.
1996:
November 5, in California, the controversial Proposition 209, also known as the California Civil Rights Initiative, was passed by a narrow voter margin or 55-45. The legislation of Prop. 209 effectively abolished California’s affirmative action programs in hiring, contracting, and educational admissions. Other initiatives have spread to numerous cities and states across the United States. Legislation has been introduced in the House and Senate with the similar agenda of wiping out all federal affirmative action programs.
1998:
Bragdon v. Abbott is the first ADA case to make its way to the Court, which holds, among other things, that HIV-positive individuals are protected under the ADA.
In Faragher v. City of Boca Raton and Burlington Industries v. Ellerth, the Court clarifies its earlier rulings on sexual harassment, reaffirming that Title VII requires employers to ensure a workplace free from sexual and other forms of discriminatory harassment.
Brutal hate crimes capture the nation’s attention, including the dragging death of African American James Byrd, Jr. in Texas, and the murder of Matthew Shepard, a young gay man in Wyoming.
1998 and 1999:
In Gebser v. Lago Vista Independent School District and Davis v. Monroe County School District the Supreme Court makes clear that Title IX requires schools to take action to prevent and stop the harassment of students by teachers or other students. Those decisions, however, also severely limit the circumstances under which victims of such harassment may receive money damages for their injuries.
1999:
The Court reaffirms in Olmstead v. L.C. that the ADA bars the unnecessary segregation of people with disabilities in state institutions. As the Court noted, such segregation is often motivated by irrational fears, stereotypes, and patronizing attitudes, and unfairly relegates individuals with disabilities to second-class status.
The Court significantly limits the ADA’s reach in a trio of cases (Sutton v. United Airlines, Murphy v. United Parcel Service, and Albertsons v. Kirkingberg). The Court holds that any determination of whether an individual has a disability triggering the ADA’s protections must consider any mitigating measures taken to control the effects of the individual’s impairment, such as medication or therapy. Under this decision, for example, an individual who controls the effects of depression through medication may be unable to claim the ADA’s protections when he or she suffers discrimination because of that depression.
Heinous hate crimes continue throughout the summer, including a series of shootings targeted at African Americans, Asian Americans, and Jew in the Midwest, and the shooting of children at a Jewish child care center in Los Angeles, followed by the murder of Filipino American postal worker Joseph Ileto.
1990
Americans with Disabilities Act
Signed into law in 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) protects persons with disabilities from discrimination in many aspects of life, including employment, education, and access to public accommodations.
1993
Family and Medical Leave Act
The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), passed in 1993, gives employees the right to take time off from work in order to care for a newborn (or recently adopted) child, or to look after an ill family member.
Nov. 22,1991
After two years of debates, vetoes, and threatened vetoes, President Bush reverses himself and signs the Civil Rights Act of 1991, strengthening existing civil rights laws and providing for damages in cases of intentional employment discrimination.
April 29, 1992
Second race riots in Los Angeles, California erupts in south-central, after a jury acquits four white police officers for the videotaped beating of African American Rodney King , who which later was awarded 3million in lawsuit and later died on June 17th 2012 from cardiac arrest.
1995
The Supreme Court rules that federal programs using race as a category for hiring must have “compelling government interest” to do so.
The Supreme Court ruled that the consideration of race in creating congressional districts is unconstitutional.
2000:
The Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) is enacted. Providing important new protections for religious freedom without the potential for undermining state and local civil rights laws, RLUIPA focuses on land use for churches, synagogues, and other religious groups, and religious freedom of those in government-run institutions such as hospitals, prisons, and group homes.
The November 2000 elections raise yet a new set of concerns about minority voting rights as voters across America — especially minority voters — report that they had been effectively denied the franchise in a variety of ways. These included allegations that minority voters faced a significantly greater risk that their votes would not be counted accurately, due to disproportionate use of outdated and inaccurate equipment in minority neighborhoods. Asian American, Haitian American, Latino, and other language minority voters report that they were denied language assistance to which they were entitled. These and other irregularities trigger calls for federal election reform legislation to address both procedural and technological barriers to voting participation.
June 23 2003
In the most important affirmative action decision since the 1978 Bakke case, the Supreme Court (5–4) upholds the University of Michigan Law School’s policy, ruling that race can be one of many factors considered by colleges when selecting their students because it furthers “a compelling interest in obtaining the educational benefits that flow from a diverse student body.”
June 21,2005
The ringleader of the Mississippi civil rights murders (see Aug. 4, 1964), Edgar Ray Killen, is convicted of manslaughter on the 41st anniversary of the crimes.
October 24,2005
Rosa Parks dies at age 92.
January 30 2006
Coretta Scott King dies of a stroke at age 78.
February 2007
Emmett Till’s 1955 murder case, reopened by the Department of Justice in 2004, is officially closed. The two confessed murderers, J. W. Milam and Roy Bryant, were dead of cancer by 1994, and prosecutors lacked sufficient evidence to pursue further convictions.
May 10 2007
James Bonard Fowler, a former state trooper, is indicted for the murder of Jimmie Lee Jackson 40 years after Jackson’s death. The 1965 killing lead to a series of historic civil rights protests in Selma, Ala.
January 2008
Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) introduces the Civil Rights Act of 2008. Some of the proposed provisions include ensuring that federal funds are not used to subsidize discrimination, holding employers accountable for age discrimination, and improving accountability for other violations of civil rights and workers’ rights.
2008-2009
The 2008 Democratic Party presidential primary saw the first Black man and family trying to win the nomination.
President Obama won and was elected into the office of president in the United States of America becoming the first African American to hold the office.
As president, Obama signed economic stimulus legislation in the form of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in February 2009.
Other domestic policy initiatives include the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, a major piece of health care reform legislation which he signed into law in March 2010, and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, forming part of his financial regulatory reform efforts, which he
signed in July 2010.
January 2009
In the Supreme Court case Ricci v. DeStefano, a lawsuit brought against the city of New Haven, 18 plaintiffs—17 white people and one Hispanic—argued that results of the 2003 lieutenant and captain exams were thrown out when it was determined that few minority firefighters qualified for advancement. The city claimed they threw out the results because they feared liability under a disparate-impact statute for issuing tests that discriminated against minority firefighters. The plaintiffs claimed that they were victims of reverse discrimination under the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Supreme Court ruled (5–4) in favor of the firefighters, saying New Haven’s “action in discarding the tests was a violation of Title VII.”
On October 8
President Obama was awarded the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize.
2012
The re-election of President Barak Hussein Obama for a second term.
February 26,2012
The killing of Trayvon Martin became the new birth of passion and energy to a civil rights movement that had almost faded into history is now embraced and reinforced completely in this millennial by all minorities.
June 17, 2012
Rodney King dies two months before the 20th anniversary of the L.A. Riots.
June 2013
In Shelby County v. Holder, the Supreme Court struck down Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act, which established a formula for Congress to use when determining if a state or voting jurisdiction requires prior approval before changing its voting laws. Currently under Section 5 of the act nine—mostly Southern—states with a history of discrimination must get clearance from Congress before changing voting rules to make sure racial minorities are not negatively affected. While the 5–4 decision did not invalidate Section 5, it made it toothless. Chief Justice John Roberts said the formula Congress now uses, which was written in 1965, has become outdated. “While any racial discrimination in voting is too much, Congress must ensure that the legislation it passes to remedy that problem speaks to current conditions,” he said in the majority opinion. In a strongly worded dissent, Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg said, “Hubris is a fit word for today’s demolition of the V.R.A.” (Voting Rights Act).
July 17, 2014
Eric Garner died in Staten Island, New York City, after a police officer put him in what has been described as a “chokehold” for about 15 to 19 seconds during an arrest. The New York City Medical Examiner’s Office attributed Garner’s death to a combination of a chokehold, compression of his chest, and poor health. New York City Police Department (NYPD) policy prohibits the use of chokeholds
August 9, 2014
In Ferguson, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis. Brown, an 18-year-old black man, was fatally shot by Darren Wilson, 28, a white Ferguson police officer. The disputed circumstances of the shooting and the resultant protests and civil unrest received considerable attention in the U.S. and abroad, and sparked a vigorous debate about law enforcement’s relationship with African Americans, and police use of force doctrine in Missouri and nationwide.