Civil Rights Act of 1866 On April 9, 1866, the Civil Rights Act was passed affirming that all citizens are protected equally by the law. This act of legislation was the instrumental juncture in the progression of treatment of African Americans. “The Civil Rights Act of 1866 played a foundational role in our understanding of civil rights, as they have developed from the Reconstruction to the present” (Rutherglen 6). The passing of the Civil Rights Act sparked a revolution for the African race that would burn throughout the U.S. for many generations. Throughout the years, distinct circumstances have generated advancements for the African American community; whether it be passing legislation or marching for civil liberties, the genesis of the
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Board of Education, the blanket term for five separate Supreme Court cases all dealing with segregation within public schools, was the next step towards blacks having identical rights as whites and is widely recognized as the beginning to modern civil rights. Prior to the supreme court ruling Brown v.s Board, one-third of states had laws that made integrated schools illegal. Plessy v. Ferguson, a Supreme Court case, coined the phrase “separate but equal” as a way to justify segregation in public schools (Greenson). However, none of the schools were even close to being “equal”; the schools were funded by the whites so they had limited access to adequate classrooms supplies and teachers. Thurgood Marshall, an activist at the time, was the lawyer for Oliver Brown and his third-grade daughter, Linda, who had to walk six blocks just to get to the bus stop to go to school, when a white school was much closer. Marshall’s argument towards the Supreme Court included explaining how, under the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment, separation of schools is inherently unequal and causes black children to feel inferior to white kids and therefore segregation should be illegal. On May 14, 1954, Chief Justice Earl Warren declared “We conclude that in the field of public education the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal….” (Brown v. Board of Education 1954, 1955). Not only did the Supreme Court ruling and …show more content…
Parks was on her way home from work while riding on a city bus when she was asked to give up her seat to a white woman. Rosa responded that she was tired of giving in to others when she deserved to remain in her seat because she was there first (“Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott”). This kerfuffle caused a pastor named Martin Luther King, Jr., a porter named Edgar Nixon, and a minister named Ralph Abernathy to form the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA). The M.I.A. planned a citywide bus boycott and to either skip work and school or walk. The morning of Rosa Parks’s trial, hundreds of protesters stood outside the courthouse awaiting the results of the trial. Although Rosa Parks was found guilty and fined $14, the bus boycott really caught fire. For months, an estimated 40,000 African Americans carpooled and rode black-ran taxis to work, causing major financial issues for the city and its transit. Being backed by the Civil Rights Act, 14th Amendment, and the Brown v. Board ruling on “separate but equal,” a lower level court and ultimately the Supreme Court ruled bus segregation unconstitutional and unlawful. The Montgomery Bus Boycott brought the blacks one step closer towards complete integration and just treatment to
Board of Education, the blanket term for five separate Supreme Court cases all dealing with segregation within public schools, was the next step towards blacks having identical rights as whites and is widely recognized as the beginning to modern civil rights. Prior to the supreme court ruling Brown v.s Board, one-third of states had laws that made integrated schools illegal. Plessy v. Ferguson, a Supreme Court case, coined the phrase “separate but equal” as a way to justify segregation in public schools (Greenson). However, none of the schools were even close to being “equal”; the schools were funded by the whites so they had limited access to adequate classrooms supplies and teachers. Thurgood Marshall, an activist at the time, was the lawyer for Oliver Brown and his third-grade daughter, Linda, who had to walk six blocks just to get to the bus stop to go to school, when a white school was much closer. Marshall’s argument towards the Supreme Court included explaining how, under the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment, separation of schools is inherently unequal and causes black children to feel inferior to white kids and therefore segregation should be illegal. On May 14, 1954, Chief Justice Earl Warren declared “We conclude that in the field of public education the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal….” (Brown v. Board of Education 1954, 1955). Not only did the Supreme Court ruling and …show more content…
Parks was on her way home from work while riding on a city bus when she was asked to give up her seat to a white woman. Rosa responded that she was tired of giving in to others when she deserved to remain in her seat because she was there first (“Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott”). This kerfuffle caused a pastor named Martin Luther King, Jr., a porter named Edgar Nixon, and a minister named Ralph Abernathy to form the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA). The M.I.A. planned a citywide bus boycott and to either skip work and school or walk. The morning of Rosa Parks’s trial, hundreds of protesters stood outside the courthouse awaiting the results of the trial. Although Rosa Parks was found guilty and fined $14, the bus boycott really caught fire. For months, an estimated 40,000 African Americans carpooled and rode black-ran taxis to work, causing major financial issues for the city and its transit. Being backed by the Civil Rights Act, 14th Amendment, and the Brown v. Board ruling on “separate but equal,” a lower level court and ultimately the Supreme Court ruled bus segregation unconstitutional and unlawful. The Montgomery Bus Boycott brought the blacks one step closer towards complete integration and just treatment to