President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Fair Housing Act (Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968) into law one week after Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, prohibiting discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of housing based on race, religion, national origin, or sex. The …
President Lyndon B. JohnsonMartin Luther King Jr.National Association of Real Estate BoardsNational Association of RealtorsHouse Rules Committeehousingcivil-rightsinstitutional-racismreal-estate-industrycorporate-opposition
On April 4, 1968, at 6:01 PM Central Standard Time, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was shot and killed while standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. He was 39 years old. King had traveled to Memphis to support Black sanitation workers who were striking for better pay, …
Martin Luther King Jr.James Earl RayFBIMemphis Policecivil-rightsviolenceassassinationinstitutional-racismdemocratic-erosion
On August 25, 1967, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover authorized the expansion of the Counter Intelligence Program (COINTELPRO) to create a new initiative targeting “Black Nationalist–Hate Groups.” This program represented a systematic effort by the nation’s premier law enforcement …
J. Edgar HooverFBIMartin Luther King Jr.Black Panther PartyWilliam C. Sullivansurveillancecivil-rightsfbi-abuseinstitutional-corruptiondemocratic-erosion
President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act of 1965 into law, outlawing discriminatory voting practices that have disenfranchised millions of African Americans since Reconstruction. The legislation passes the Senate 77-19 on May 26 and the House 333-85 on July 9, overcoming a 24-day …
President Lyndon B. JohnsonMartin Luther King Jr.John LewisSouthern Democratic SenatorsRichard Russellvoting-rightscivil-rightssouthern-strategyinstitutional-resistancevoter-suppression
On October 10, 1963, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy signed an authorization permitting the FBI to wiretap the telephones of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference offices in New York and Atlanta. The authorization, requested by FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, …
J. Edgar HooverRobert F. KennedyMartin Luther King Jr.FBIStanley Levisonsurveillancecivil-rightsfbi-abuseinstitutional-corruptiondemocratic-erosion
On August 28, 1963, approximately 250,000 people gathered in Washington, D.C., for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, the largest demonstration for civil rights in American history to that point. Organized by Bayard Rustin and A. Philip Randolph, the march built an alliance of civil …
Martin Luther King Jr.Bayard RustinA. Philip RandolphJohn F. KennedyMahalia Jacksoncivil-rightsnonviolent-resistancedemocratic-participationinstitutional-racismlabor-rights
On May 3, 1963, Birmingham Public Safety Commissioner Bull Connor ordered police and firefighters to unleash high-pressure fire hoses and attack dogs on more than 1,000 young students, some as young as eight years old, who were marching downtown to protest segregation. The previous day, on May 2, …
Bull ConnorMartin Luther King Jr.James BevelBirmingham PoliceBirmingham Fire Departmentcivil-rightsinstitutional-racismpolice-brutalityviolencedemocratic-erosion
On November 13, 1956, the United States Supreme Court affirmed the district court ruling in Browder v. Gayle, declaring Montgomery, Alabama’s bus segregation laws unconstitutional. The decision marked the triumphant conclusion of the 381-day Montgomery Bus Boycott and established Martin Luther …
Martin Luther King Jr.Rosa ParksE.D. NixonJo Ann RobinsonMontgomery Improvement Association+2 morecivil-rightssegregationjudicialnonviolent-resistancedemocratic-breakthrough
On the evening of December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, a 42-year-old African American seamstress and NAACP secretary, was arrested for violating Chapter 6, Section 11 of the Montgomery City Code, which upheld racial segregation on public buses. Parks refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a …
Rosa ParksMartin Luther King Jr.Montgomery Improvement AssociationE.D. NixonWomen's Political Councilcivil-rightsinstitutional-racismsegregationnonviolent-resistancedemocratic-erosion