People, Locations, Episodes

The 24th Amendment To The Constitution is Passed

*On this date in 1964 the twenty-fourth amendment to the constitution was passed.

Since the legal end to slavery, African Americans had been denied the right to vote by a number of different ways. Some measures were deceitful, many others were life threatening. This confirmation ensured the Abolition of the Poll Tax Qualification in Federal Elections.

The 1964 Civil Rights Act is Passed

On this date in 1964, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act.

John F. Kennedy had argued for a new Civil Rights Act during the 1960 presidential election. But for the next two years, over 70 per cent of the African American vote went to Kennedy, the new president did nothing to promote this legislation.

The Civil Rights bill was brought before Congress in 1963. Kennedy presented arguments in favor of it on June 11 in a speech on television. Kennedy’s Civil Rights bill was still being debated by Congress when he was assassinated in November 1963.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is Enacted

On this date in 1964, the Civil Rights Act was enacted into law in America. The first of three such legislations was an attempt to deal with the increasing demands of African Americans for equal rights.

Heart of Atlanta Motel Inc. v. the United States is Decided

*On this date in 1964, Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. the United States was decided. This court case was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court. It held that the Commerce Clause gave the U.S. Congress power to force private businesses to abide by Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits […]

Swain v. Alabama is decided

*On this date in 1965, Swain v. Alabama was decided. This case was heard before the United States Supreme Court regarding the legality of a struck jury. Robert Swain, a Black man, was indicted and convicted of rape in the Circuit Court of Talladega County, Alabama, and sentenced to death by an all-white jury. The […]

Hicks v. Knight is Filed

On this date in 1965, Hicks v. Knight was filed.  The suit, aimed against Bogalusa Chief of Police Claxton Knight, argued that police “must protect Black demonstrators instead of harassing them, beating them, arresting them, and leaving them at the mercy of white mobs.” The racial episode in Lousisiana’s at Cassidy Park, especially the canine […]

Diversity Equity and Inclusion (D.E.I.) in America, a story

*Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (D.E.I.) in America is affirmed on this date in 1965. This is a policy that levels the presence of non-white, disabled, female, aged, and binary citizens. D.E.I. is in the private and public sectors of education and business. As educational subjects began to diversify more in the 1960s, student bodies did […]

The 1965 American Voting Rights Act is Passed

*On this date the American Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed into law. The most sweeping reforms were embodied in the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

The Voting History of Black Women in America, a story

*On this date in 1965, the voting history of Black women in America is briefly shared.  Black women in America began to agitate for political rights in the 1830s, creating Female Anti-Slavery Societies in New York and Philadelphia. These interracial groups were radical expressions of women’s political ideals, leading directly to voting rights activism before and after […]

The Race Relations Act is passed

*On this date in 1965, the Race Relations Act was enacted. This was the first legislation in the United Kingdom to address racial discrimination. The Act outlawed discrimination on the “grounds of color, race, or ethnic or national origins” in public places in Great Britain. It also prompted the creation of the Race Relations Board […]

Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections is Decided

*On this date in 1966, Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections, 383 U.S. 663 (1966), was decided. This was a case in which the U.S. Supreme Court found that Virginia’s poll tax was unconstitutional under the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.   In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, eleven southern states established poll taxes to disenfranchise most blacks and many […]

The United States v. Guest is Decided

*On this date in 1966, the Supreme Court decided United States v. Guest, 383 U.S. 745. Justice Potter Stewart authored this landmark decision. The Court extended the protection of the 14th Amendment to citizens who suffer rights deprivations at the hands of private conspiracies, where there is minimal state participation in the conspiracy. The Court also held that […]

Aborigines Are Officially Put On The Australian Census

*On this date in 1967, Aborigines were formally counted in Australia’s census for the first time. Ninety percent of white Australians voted in this referendum for a proposal to count Aborigines in the census and to allow the federal government to make special laws for them. Until then, their affairs had been administered solely by […]

Loving v. Virginia is Decided

On this date in 1967, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Loving v. Virginia.

The Civil Rights (Fair Housing Act) of 1968 is Signed

*On this date in 1968, the Civil Rights Act of 1968 was signed. This federal law prohibited discrimination concerning the sale, rental, and financing of housing.   President Lyndon Johnson signed this landmark act into law almost immediately following the Martin Luther King assassination riots in America. It was the final primary legislation passed in the modern 20th-century American […]