U.S. congressmen from 11 Southern states issue “Southern Manifesto” declaring opposition to Brown v. Board of Education decision, which prohibited racial segregation in public schools.
March 11, 1965
Reverend James Reeb, a white supporter of Black voting rights, dies two days after being beaten by angry white people in Selma, Alabama.
March 10, 1865
During the Civil War, Confederate forces in South Carolina hangs a young enslaved Black woman named Amy Spain for aiding the Union Army.
March 9, 1892
Ida B. Wells’s friends Thomas Moss, Calvin McDowell, and Henry Stewart are lynched in Memphis, Tennessee, sparking her lifelong crusade against lynching.
March 8, 1655
Virginia Colony court rules against John Casor, a Black indentured servant who sued for his freedom after being forced to work past his term, and declares him enslaved for life.
March 7, 1965
Police use tear gas, whips, and clubs to attack supporters of Black voting rights marching from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama; dozens are hospitalized on “Bloody Sunday.”
March 6, 1857
U.S. Supreme Court in Dred Scott v. Sandford rules that people of African descent cannot be U.S. citizens, are not protected by the Constitution, and have no standing to sue in federal courts.
March 5, 1842
This week, Maryland law provides for punishment of up to 20 years in prison for any African American found with an antislavery publication in his or her possession.
March 4, 2015
U.S. Department of Justice finds pervasive bias within police department and municipal court in Ferguson, Missouri, including targeting Black people for stops, arrests, and uses of force.
March 3, 1819
Congress creates federal program to “civilize” Native Americans.