People, Locations, Episodes

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The Population Registration Act, Act No 30, is Repealed

*On this date in 1991, the Population Registration Act, Act No. 30 of 1950, was repealed.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 The Act was repealed by the Population Registration Act of the […]

The United States v. Fordice is Decided

On this date in 1992, The United States Supreme Court ruled on United States v. Fordice.

In this case, the Supreme Court held that states with officially sanctioned segregated higher education systems must do more than employ race neutral access. They must permit students freedom of choice to meet their duty to break down their dual system under the Equal Protection Clause. This decision has raised questions regarding the existence and future of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU).

The National Voter Registration Act of 1993 Takes Effect

*On January 1, 1995, The National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA) went into effect. Also known as the Motor Voter Act, it was a United States federal law signed on May 20, 1993. After Congress enacted the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to address rampant voting discrimination against racial minorities, voting rights advocates argued for federal […]

Shaw v. Reno is Ruled on by The Supreme Court

*On this date in1993, the United States Supreme Court ruled on Shaw v Reno. The Supreme Court’s position in this case was a troubled compromise on the issue of race and political redistricting.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission is established

*The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was established on this date in 1996. The TRC was a court-like restorative justice body assembled in South Africa after the end of apartheid. The TRC was set up in Cape Town under terms of the Promotion of National Unity and Reconciliation Act, No. 34 of 1995. The hearings […]

Pigford v. Glickman is Decided

*On this date in 1999, Pigford v. Glickman was decided. This was a class action lawsuit against the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), alleging racial discrimination against Black farmers in allocating farm loans and assistance between 1981 and 1996.   After Shirley and Charles Sherrod lost their farm when they could not secure United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) loans, they became class action plaintiffs in the […]

Church Bombing Hate Crime Tried 39 Years Later

On this date in 2002, the last of the bomb killers of four Black children in Alabama was convicted.

Closing the books on the deadliest crime of the civil rights era, a jury convicted an aging former Klansman of murder for the 1963 church bombing that shook the nation’s soul. The verdict, reached by a racially mixed jury in less than seven hours of deliberation, brought tears from relatives on both sides and a statement of defiance from the 71-year-old defendant, Bobby Frank Cherry.

The ‘No Fear Act’ is Signed into Law

On this date in 2002, President George W. Bush signed the No FEAR Act.

The Notification and Federal Employee Anti-discrimination and Retaliation Act of 2002 (No FEAR ACT), was the first civil rights law of the 21st century. No FEAR, among other things, requires agencies to make employees aware of discrimination and whistle blower protection laws. This provision is the result of the tireless work of Marsha Coleman-Adebayo.

The Central Park Jogger Case is Dismissed

On this date in 2002, A New York judge dismissed the convictions in the “Central Park Jogger” rape case.

Another Klan Member Is Found Guilty Of Murder

*On this date in 2003, another Ku Klux Klan member was convicted of killing a Black man in 1966.

Klansman Ernest Avants was found guilty of slaying Ben White, a Black sharecropper, more than thirty years ago. The trial and verdict took place in Jackson, Mississippi for a crime prosecutors say was staged to lure Martin Luther King Jr. to the southern part of the state to be assassinated.

The Supreme Court Reaffirms Affirmative Action

On this date in 2003, the U. S. Supreme Court upheld affirmative action.

A divided Supreme Court reaffirmed colleges’ right to give an edge to minority applicants to attain campus diversity, but raised the threshold in hopes of ending affirmative action within 25 years. While the 5-4 decision found that the University of Michigan law school’s race-based admissions system meets “a compelling government interest,” the court gave a separate victory to opponents of affirmative action.

Grutter v. Bollinger is Decided

*Grutter v. Bollinger was decided on this date in 2003. This was a landmark case of the United States Supreme Court concerning affirmative action in student admissions. The Court held that a student admissions process that favors “underrepresented minority groups” does not violate the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause so long as it considers other […]

Life Sentence for Black Florida Boy is Changed

On this date in 2003, A Florida appeals court threw out a African American boy’s conviction for beating a 6-year-old playmate to death.

The case spotlighted a Florida law that says child murderers must be locked away for the rest of their lives. In West Palm Beach, the Florida Fourth District Court of Appeals ordered a new trial for Lionel Tate, now 16, saying his mental competency should have been evaluated before his trial. He was tried as an adult and is serving life without parole at a maximum-security juvenile prison.

The Gullah/Geechee Corridor Act is Passed

*On this date in 2005, the Gullah/Geechee Corridor Act was signed into law. The Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Act – Establishes the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor (Heritage Corridor) to: (1) recognize the significant contributions made to American culture and history by African Americans known as the Gullah/Geechee, who settled in the coastal counties of South Carolina, […]