Civil Rights

The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was the first significant federal law to restrict immigration based explicitly on nationality and race. It suspended the immigration of Chinese laborers for ten years and prohibited Chinese nationals from becoming U.S. citizens. Although it allowed a limited number…

This photograph depicts the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, Washington, DC, August 28, 1963.

The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) is the oldest and largest Latino civil rights organization in the United States. Created by middle-class Mexican Americans to fight racial discrimination and promote civic engagement, LULAC has worked to advance the economic, educational,…

Delgado v. Bastrop Independent School District was a landmark federal court case in Texas that challenged the segregation of Mexican American students in public schools. Filed by Minerva Delgado and other parents with support from civil rights groups like LULAC and the American G.I. Forum, the case…

In this case, ten Mexican American women filed a lawsuit against physicians and administrators at the Los Angeles County‑USC Medical Center. They alleged that they underwent tubal ligations without fully informed or voluntary consent while in labor or under duress. Judge Jesse W. Curtis Jr.…

Serna v. Portales Municipal Schools arose when a group of Mexican‑American families sued the Portales, New Mexico, school district. They sued them for denying Spanish‑surnamed children an equal educational opportunity, such as adequate bilingual and bicultural resources. The U.S. District Court for…

The National Chicano Moratorium was an anti–Vietnam War movement organized by Mexican American activist groups under the National Chicano Moratorium Committee Against the Vietnam War. Its largest demonstration took place on August 29, 1970, when an estimated 20,000–30,000 Chicano/a protesters…

The Young Lords Organization (YLO) emerged from a Puerto Rican street gang in Chicago. It became a revolutionary civil and human rights group active through the early 1970s. Under the leadership of José “Cha Cha” Jiménez, the YLO adopted a Marxist–Leninist revolutionary nationalism platform and…

The East Los Angeles Walkouts, the “Chicano Blowouts,” were a landmark series of student-led protests in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Thousands of Mexican American high school students walked out of classes to demand an end to discriminatory policies, an inclusive curriculum, and equal…

In the case of Katzenbach v. Morgan, the Supreme Court significantly affirmed Congress's power under Section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment. This ruling established Congress's authority to expand individual rights beyond judicial recognition. Specifically, the Court upheld Section 4(e) of…

The National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) was formed under the leadership of César Chávez and Dolores Huerta to organize Mexican American and Filipino farmworkers in California. It aimed to improve wages, working conditions, and access to social services through nonviolent actions. In 1966,…

The Supreme Court’s unanimous decision in Hernandez v. Texas held that Mexican Americans and other nationality groups are entitled to equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment. It struck down the systematic exclusion of them from jury service. The ruling marked the first time the Court…

Mendez v. Westminster was a landmark decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. It held that the segregation of Mexican American students into separate Mexican schools in Orange County, California, was unconstitutional under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth…

The Zoot Suit Riots were a series of racially charged clashes in Los Angeles. U.S. servicemen, off‑duty police officers, and civilians attacked Mexican American youths. Known as pachucos, they wore distinctive zoot suits characterized by broad‑shouldered jackets and baggy, tapered trousers.

The case People v. Zamora arose from the Sleepy Lagoon murder in which José Gallardo Díaz was found fatally injured near a Los Angeles-area reservoir. Mexican‑American youths, including Gus Zamora, were arrested en masse and tried by a judge who barred many defense requests and seated an all‑white…

El Congreso de Pueblos de Habla Española (the Spanish Speaking People's Congress) was formed in California as a coalition of Latino labor and civil rights activists seeking to unite Spanish‑speaking communities. Luisa Moreno spearheaded the inauguration of the Congress, drawing delegates from…

The Pecan Shellers Strike was one of San Antonio’s largest labor actions. It involved approximately 12,000 pecan shellers who walked off the job to protest wage cuts and unsafe, unventilated workrooms in the city’s shelling industry. On January 31, 1938, Mexican American women shellers demanded…

El Primer Congreso Mexicanista, known in English as the First Mexicanist Congress, convened to address social, labor, educational, and economic inequalities facing Mexicans and Mexican Americans. It marked the emergence of a coordinated Mexican American civil rights movement on the Gulf Coast.

A foundation document that outlined the rights and freedoms that Black people should be afforded worldwide. This declaration condemned racial oppression and called for the self-determination, equality, and unity of Black people. It's one of the earliest declarations of Black rights predating…

A proposal was made to amend the constitution and eliminate affirmative action programs that gave advantageous treatments to groups or individuals based on their race, gender, color, ethnicity, or national origin for jobs, education, or contracting purposes. This ban led to a decline in Black…

United States v. Paradise (1987) was a landmark Supreme Court case that addressed the issue of racial discrimination in employment practices, specifically in relation to affirmative action policies. The case involved the Alabama Department of Public Safety, which had a history of discriminatory…

Loving v. Virginia (1967) was a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case that invalidated laws prohibiting interracial marriage. The case arose when Mildred Jeter, a Black woman, and Richard Loving, a white man, were married in Washington, D.C., in 1958 but were later arrested in their home state of…

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was enacted to eliminate barriers that had long obstructed African Americans from exercising their constitutional right to vote. Discriminatory practices, including literacy tests and poll taxes, were abolished, and federal oversight of voter registration in…

By early 1941, as the United States prepared for World War II, millions of jobs were being created, particularly in urban areas. Many African Americans seized this opportunity, migrating in large numbers to northern and western cities to work in defense industries. However, they were often met with…

Over 3424 lynchings in 33 years (1889-1922) An anti-lynching bill was proposed to the senate that would have made lynching a federal felony and allowed perpetrators to be punished by fines, prison, or both. Ultimately the bill was dismissed by filibuster in the Senate by Southern Democrats. 

At the bus station in Durham, North Carolina; there is a colored-waiting sign to signify where African Americans were allowed to wait.