1. The Civil Rights Movement
In the Courts

2. BROWN v. BOARD of EDUCATION
Supreme Court ruled segregation of public schools was unconstitutional
Ruling gave improved educational opportunities to African Americans

3. BROWN v. BOARD of EDUCATION
NAACP attorney Thurgood Marshall (center) argued the case to end segregation
Marshall later became the first African American on the U.S. Supreme Court

4. BROWN v. BOARD of EDUCATION (1954)
African American girl sued for the right to go to the school of her choice – and WON!
Ruling overturned the ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson case and outlawed segregation in public schools

5. The local NAACP picked out nine African Americans to attend the school
Ending School Segregation
In 1957, a federal court ordered the integration of Little Rock Central High
The local NAACP picked out nine African Americans to attend the school
Arkansas Governor Orville Faubus sent in the National Guard to “keep the peace”
On their first attempt to enter the school, the black students were denied entrance

6. Ending School Segregation
The Little Rock Nine
U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower called in federal troops to enforce the Supreme Court ruling
Only one of the “Little Rock Nine” graduated, but the incident raised national awareness about the discrimination in the South

8. James Meredith is denied admission into Ole Miss
Ending school segregation
James Meredith enters Ole Miss
James Meredith is denied admission into Ole Miss
President Kennedy sends 500 federal marshals to escort Meredith and make sure he was allowed to attended classes

9. Wallace fights segregation
Ending school segregation
Wallace fights segregation
Alabama governor George Wallace blocks the entrance to keep two black students from enrolling at the University of Alabama
President Kennedy sends federal marshals to enforce the federal law
"The President wants us to surrender this state to Martin Luther King and his group of pro-Communists who have instituted these demonstrations."
George Wallace

10. Mendez v Westminster
A federal court case that challenged racial segregation in Orange County, California schools. The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, ruled that the segregation of Mexican and Mexican American students into separate "Mexican schools" was unconstitutional.

11. Delgado v Bastrop ISD
In 1948, LULAC filed suit against the Bastrop ISD and three other districts. The suit charged segregation of Mexican children from other white races without specific state land in violation of the attorney general's opinion. The court agreed and ordered the cessation of the separation of Mexican children from other white races. However, the court did allow separate classes on the same campus, in the first grade only, for language-deficient or non-English-speaking students.

12. Sweatt v Painter
A U.S. Supreme Court case that successfully challenged the "separate but equal" established by the 1896 case Plessy v. Ferguson. Heman Marion Sweatt, was refused admission to the School of Law of the University of Texas, on the grounds that the Texas State Constitution prohibited integrated education.
The Supreme Court ruled that the equal protection clause required Sweatt's admission to the University of Texas School of Law. Sweatt enrolled at the beginning of the 1950–51 school year, as did several other blacks.

13. Hernandez v Texas -1954
A landmark Supreme Court case that decided that Mexican Americans and all other racial groups in the United States had equal protection under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The court ruled that members of non-Caucasian races must be allowed on jury-selecting committees

14. Gideon v Wainwright
A landmark Supreme Court case. the Supreme Court ruled that state courts are required under the Fourteenth Amendment to provide counsel in criminal cases to represent defendants who are unable to afford to pay their own attorneys.

15. Miranda v Arizona
A landmark Supreme Court decision. The Court held that statements made in response to interrogation by a defendant in police custody will be admissible only if the defendant was informed of the right to consult with an attorney and of the right against self-incrimination prior to questioning by police, and that the defendant not only understood these rights, but voluntarily waived them.

16. Tinker v Des Moines
One of the most groundbreaking trials in the history of the United States. The case involves 3 minors who were each suspended from their schools for wearing black armbands to protest the Vietnam War. The court ruling allowed individual schools to prohibit students from protesting if the protest has the chance to influence a disruptive response.

17. Wisconsin v Yoder
United States Supreme Court case in which the Court found that Amish children could not be placed under compulsory education past 8th grade. The parents' fundamental right to freedom of religion outweighed the state's interest in educating its children. The case is often cited as a basis for parents' right to home school their children.

18. White v Regester
Supreme Court case challenging the Texas 1970 legislative reapportionment plan. The Court invalidated the use of multimember legislative districts in two Texas counties because the redistricting plan had operated to cancel out or minimize the voting strength of Black and Mexican American communities.

19. Edgewood ISD v Kirby
A landmark case concerning public school finance. The plaintiffs charged that the state's methods of funding public schools violated the state constitution, which obligated the state to provide an efficient and free public school system.
In 1989 the Texas Supreme Court delivered a decision that sided with the Edgewood plaintiffs and ordered the state Legislature to implement an equitable system by the school year.