 An Act respecting slaves, free negroes and mulattoes |
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This Missouri law is one of the Black Codes designed to ensure white supremacy prior to the Civil War, limiting literacy and assembly for enslaved people as well as preventing interstate travel for free Black people.
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| Chain Gang Blues |
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Chain Gang Blues was a song recorded by blues singer Ma Rainey in 1925 that reflects the experience of Black Americans in the Jim Crow South. In the song, the protagonist has been sent on the chain gang for reasons that she thinks are unjust.
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| Clark v. Board of School Directors |
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In this case, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled that the segregation of students based on race was unconstitutional. It was the first and only 19th century court to overturn school segregation.
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| Coger v. The North Western Union Packet Co. |
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In this case, the Iowa Supreme Court held that a steamboat company's removal of a Black woman from its dining table violated her constitutional right of equality under Iowa's constitution, relying heavily on the Court's earlier decision in Clark v. Board of School Directors. This case came nearly 100 years before the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. United States that upheld Title II of the newly passed Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibited discrimination in public accommodations.
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| Constitution of Oregon |
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Oregon became a state with a Black exclusion law in its constitution. Drafted in 1857 by delegates at a territorial convention, several sections of the constitution reflect Oregon voters' goal of creating a white-only state.
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| Executive Order 10925 - Establishing the President's Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity |
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This executive order by President John F. Kennedy directed government contractors to use affirmative action to ensure people of any "race, creed, color, or national origin" were given equal treatment and opportunity for employment. This executive order also established the President's Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity.
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| Loving v. Virginia |
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In this landmark civil rights case, the Supreme Court ruled that laws banning interracial marriage were unconstitutional for violating the Equal Protection and Due Process clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment.
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| Mendez v. Westminster |
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Menedez v. Westminster found educational segregation toward Latino students unconstitutional.
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| NAACP v. Allen |
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In this case, the court ruled that the Department of Public Safety of Alabama needed to follow affirmative action principles to reduce discrimination.
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| Negroes and Mulattoes |
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Part of the Black Codes passed by Northwest Ordinance states prior to Reconstruction, this article in the Indiana Constitution is an example of the way "free" states ensured white supremacy.
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| Perez v. Sharp |
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In this case, a 4-3 majority of the Supreme Court of California ruled that the state's ban on interracial marriage violated the 14th Amendment. It was the first of any state to strike down an anti-miscegenation law in the U.S, preceding Loving v. Virginia by almost 20 years.
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| President Johnson's Commencement Address at Howard University: "To Fulfill These Rights" |
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In this speech given to Howard University's 1965 graduating class, President Lyndon B. Johnson talks about the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts being passed as a result of the Civil Rights Movement and the long-lasting impacts of systemic racism.
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| Roberto Alvarez, et al. v. E. L. Owen, et al. |
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This case was the first successful school desegregation case in the United States, decided fifteen years before Brown v. Board of Education. When the school board in Lemon Grove, California, attempted to build a separate school for students of Mexican origin, the court ruled that the segregation violated state laws which considered people of Mexican descent to be white.
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| Selective Service Act |
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This act authorized the U.S. government to raise a national army through compulsory enlistment via a draft. The military was segregated at the time of World War I, and Black soldiers were mostly relegated to labor roles.
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| Selective Training and Service Act |
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This act authorized the U.S. government to raise a national army through compulsory enlistment via a draft. While the act prohibited discrimination based on race, the military was still segregated at the time of World War II, and Black soldiers were mostly relegated to labor roles.
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| Smith v. Directors of Independent School Dist. of Keokuk |
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In this case, the Iowa Supreme Court affirmed a lower court's ruling that the Keokuk school district could not refuse to admit a Black student based on race. Legal precedent for this case as set in the 1868 ruling in Clark v. Board of School Directors.
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| Voting Rights Act |
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The Voting Rights Act of 1965 prohibits racial discrimination in voting, enforcing the voting rights protected by the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments. Its intent was to outlaw the discriminatory voting practices adopted by many southern states against African Americans. Its power was severely reduced by the 2013 Supreme Court Decision in Shelby County v. Holder.
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