1. 1945-46. Black soldiers who fought against fascism in World War Two are demobilized from a segregated armed forces into a segregated civilian society.

2. 1946-70. Mechanization of southern agriculture and decline of tenant farming underscores mass migration of blacks from rural to urban areas and from South to North.

3. 1947. Jackie Robinson breaks color line in major league baseball.

4. 1947-70. U.S. government becomes increasingly embarrassed as it seeks to court governments in Africa, Latin America and Asia as allies in the cold war.

5. 1948. President Harry Truman issues executive order desegregating the armed forces.

6. 1954. Supreme Court decision in Brown vs Topeka orders schools desegregated.

7. 1955. Montgomery Bus Boycott.

8. 1957. President Eisenhower mobilizes army to enforce desegregation of Little Rock, Arkansas schools.

9. 1960. Sit-in movement begins in the South.

10.1961. Freedom rides.

11. 1962. James Meredith attempts to enter University of Mississippi.

12. 1963. Desegregation movement in Birmingham met by brutal police response (including dramatic footage shown on national TV).

13. 1963. Medgar Evers assassinated.

14. 1963. March on Washington.

15. 1964. Civil Rights Act outlaws racial discrimination in public accommodations.

16. 1964. Democratic party does not seat Mississippi Freedom Democratic party at its national convention.

17. 1964. Civil Rights workers Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner killed in Mississippi.

18. 1964-5. Autobiography of Malcolm X published; assassinated in 1965.

19. 1964-68. Urban riots in Watts, Newark, Detroit, etc.

20. 1965. Voting Rights Act authorizes federal government where states prevent black voters from registering.

21. 1966. Stokeley Carmichael becomes head of SNCC and call for black power. Black Panther party formed.

22. 1968. Kerner Commission, appointed by President Johnson to investigate urban riots, issues report pointing to racism as cause.

23. 1968. Martin Luther King assassinated.

24. 1968. Victorious African-American athletes give black power salute at Olympic games.

25. 1971. Supreme Court rules that bussing to desegregate schools is constitutional.

26. ....................................................................other????????????

Part Two. Examine the following list. Which listings do you think played the most important role in the African-American struggle for freedom, equality & power, 1945-71? Rank the listings in order of importance.

1. Black athletes and entertainers who integrated their professions. 2. The U.S. Supreme Court. 3. An expanding black electorate (voters). 4. Groups and individuals that advocated non-violent, civil disobedient confrontation. 5. Elected black officials. 6. Presidents Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson. 7. The media, particularly TV. 8. Black churches. 9. Black students. 10. Non-black allies of the civil rights and freedom movements. 11. The U.S. congress. 12. Black soldiers returning from World War Two. 13. Groups pushing a legal strategy through the courts. 14. Advocates of black power and militant black nationalism. 15. Black novelists, playwrights, poets and essayists. 16. African, Asian and Latin American third world leaders. 17. (By negative example) Racist leaders, organizations and groups. 18. (Other) ......................