A History of the Civil Rights Movement

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A History of the Civil Rights Movement

1964:

On July 2, President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act into law. This historic legislation prohibits discrimination and racial segregation in schools, workplaces, and public facilities. In Mississippi, Freedom Summer activities lead to a surge in voter registration. In February, Malcolm X is assassinated; on August 6, President Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act, making it illegal for states to prevent African Americans from voting by the use of poll taxes, liter acy tests, or other means. Thurgood Marshall becomes the first African-American to serve as a United States Supreme Court judge on June 13. On April 4 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. Riots break out in cities across the United States. On April 11, President Johnson signs the Fair Housing Act, which bans discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of housing.

1965:

1967:

1968:

Both blacks and whites take part in one of the 1965 marches from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, which were held to encourage African Americans to vote.