May 22, 1872

Congress passes the Amnesty Act, restoring most former Confederates’ rights to vote and hold office.

May 21, 1961

National Guard called to disperse several thousand white people threatening to set fire to First Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, with Martin Luther King Jr. and Freedom Riders inside.

May 20, 1961

When Freedom Riders arrive in Montgomery, Alabama, police allow white mob to attack; several people are severely injured, including a U.S. Justice Department representative.

May 19, 1918

A white mob lynches Mary Turner, a Black pregnant woman, in Brooks County, Georgia, for speaking publicly against the lynching of her husband the previous day.

May 18, 1980

After four Miami police officers are acquitted in brutal beating death of Arthur McDuffie, violent protests erupt, leaving 23 dead and hundreds injured.

May 17, 1954

U.S. Supreme Court rules in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka that racial segregation in public schools in unconstitutional, sparking massive white resistance and violence.

May 16, 2012

North Carolina legislators recommend $50,000 compensation for victims of forced sterilization program from 1930s to 1970s; 60% of women sterilized against their will were Black.

May 15, 1970

Police shoot and kill two unarmed Black student protestors at Jackson State College.

May 15, 1916

Mob of 15,000 burns alive African American teenager Jesse Washington in Waco, Texas.

May 14, 1961

White mob sets fire to bus carrying Freedom Riders, an interracial group challenging segregation, near Anniston, Alabama, and attacks riders with clubs, bricks, iron pipes, and knives.