2. Dred Scott v. Sandford 1856 Major precursor to Civil War Denied citizenship and basic rights to all blacks
3. Plessy v. Ferguson 1896 “Separate but equal” law Racially segregated public facilities, schools and accommodations
4. Brown v. Board of Education 1955 Involved Linda Brown, black student from Kansas NAACP lawyer Thurgood Marshall argued on Brown’s behalf Prohibited racial segregation of public schools Changed course of racial segregation Very controversial
5. Civil Rights Act of 1957 First new civil rights law since Reconstruction Made it a federal crime to prevent qualified persons from voting Set up Civil Rights Commission to investigate violations of law
6. Loving v. Virginia 1967 Decided state laws prohibiting inter-racial marriage are unconstitutional.
7. Griggs v. Duke Power Company 1971 Education requirements and intelligence tests used as conditions of employment acted to exclude African-American job applicants, did not relate to job performance, and were prohibited
8. Lau v. Nichols 1973 A city school system's failure to provide English language instruction to Chinese students was unlawful discrimination
9. Mendez et al. v. Westminster School District et al. 1945 League of United Latin American Citizens won important case Segregation of Mexican American children in a CA school district was illegal
10. Delgado v. Bastrop Independent School District 1948 Biggest victory so far Segregation of Mexican American children in a Texas school district was illegal Led to the end of segregation of Mexican Americans in all Texas school districts
11. Relocation Act of 1956 Promoted assimilation of American Indians to mainstream society Set up procedures to encourage Indians to move to urban areas Established relocation offices in major cities to assist newcomers
