People, Locations, Episodes

Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg B. O. E. is Decided

*On this date in 1971, Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education was decided. This was a landmark United States Supreme Court case dealing with busing students to promote integration in public schools.   The Court held that busing was an appropriate remedy for the problem of racial imbalance in schools, even when the imbalance resulted from the selection of students based […]

Fani Willis, Lawyer, Judge, and Prosecutor born

*Fani Willis’s birth is celebrated on this date in 1971. She is a Black attorney, judge, and prosecutor. Fani Taifa Willis was born in Inglewood, California. Her father was a member of the Black Panthers and a criminal defense attorney. When Willis was in the first grade, her family moved to Washington, D.C. Her parents divorced, and […]

The Soledad Brothers (Prison Inmates) are Acquitted

*The two surviving Soledad Brothers were acquitted on this date in 1972. An all-white jury cleared Fleeta Dumgo and John Cluchette of murder charges.

They had been charged with killing a white guard at Soledad Prison in 1970. The third Soledad Brother, George Jackson, was killed in the August 1971 alleged escape attempt.

Curt Flood’s Court Suit Against Baseball is Ruled

On this date in 1972, Curt Flood lost his suit against Major League Baseball’s (MLB) anti-trust statute.

The National Association of Blacks in Criminal Justice is Formed

*The beginning of the National Association of Blacks in Criminal Justice (NABCJ) in 1974 is celebrated on this date.

Dereck Chauvin, Policeman born

*Derek Chauvin was born on this date in 1976. He is a white-American former police officer and murderer. Derek Michael Chauvin was born in Cottage Grove, Minnesota. His mother was a housewife, and his father was a certified public accountant. At seven, his parents divorced and were granted joint custody of him. Chauvin attended Park […]

The Supreme Court Rules on the Bakke Case

On this date, we remember the Alan Bakke case. On June 28, 1978, the California Supreme Court, in a two-part ruling, ordered Alan Bakke (a white man) to be admitted to the University of California at Davis Medical School.

Saint Lucia Gains Independence From Britain

*On this date in 1979, Saint Lucia became an independent state from Britain.    Saint Lucia is a sovereign island country in the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean Sea on the boundary with the Atlantic Ocean.   The island was previously called Iyonola, the name was given to the island by the native Arawaks, and […]

Knight v. Alabama is Filed

*On this date in 1981, Knight v. Alabama was filed in federal court. The suit, brought by John F. Knight and others associated with two Historically Black Colleges in Alabama (HBCU), held that Alabama’s higher education system utilized racially discriminatory practices in allocating funding and admissions. Those schools were Alabama A&M University and Alabama State […]

Diana Méndez, Lawyer born

*Diana Méndez was born on this date in 1981. She is an Afro Ecuadorian jurist and lawyer. Diana Salazar Méndez spent her childhood in her native Ibarra, Ecuador, before moving to Quito with her family at age 16. She was raised solely by her mother, Olivia Méndez, an educational psychologist, and three siblings. She holds […]

The Atlanta Child Killer is Arrested

On this date in 1981, the Atlanta child killer was arrested.

An undercover killer of Black children plagued Atlanta and the state of Georgia youth for almost two years. After 28 lives were lost, Wayne B. Williams, an African American man, was found to be guilty and is now serving two consecutive life terms.

Batson v. Kentucky is decided

*On this date in 1986, Batson v. Kentucky was decided. A landmark United States Supreme Court decision ruled that a prosecutor’s use of a peremptory challenge in a criminal case—dismissing jurors without stating a valid cause—may not be used to exclude jurors based solely on their race. The Court ruled that this practice violated the […]

The Supreme Court Favors Reverse Discrimination Decision

On this date in 1989, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of reverse discrimination suits.

The establishment of racial quotas in the name of affirmative action brought charges of so-called reverse discrimination in the late 1970s. Although the U.S. Supreme Court accepted such an argument in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978), it let existing programs stand and approved the use of quotas in 1979 in a case involving voluntary affirmative-action programs in unions and private businesses.

Rodney King is Beaten by Three White Police Officers

*This date marks the anniversary of the Rodney King beating. On March 3, 1991, white police officers in Los Angeles, California, stopped a car driven by a 34-year-old African American named Rodney King, who, they said, was speeding.

The Population Registration Act, Act No 30, is Repealed

*On this date in 1991, the Population Registration Act, Act No. 30 of 1950, was repealed. The Act was a pillar of the Apartheid system. It required people to register from birth as belonging to one of four different racial groups, White, Black, Coloured, and Indian. The Act was repealed by the Population Registration Act of the […]