1967

Thurgood Marshall was confirmed by the Senate 69-11 as the first Black Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, nominated by President Johnson. Marshall had argued Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 as NAACP chief counsel. He served until 1991, authoring over 150 majority opinions.

The Supreme Court unanimously struck down Virginia's Racial Integrity Act and all state anti-miscegenation laws in Loving v. Virginia. Mildred and Richard Loving had been convicted in 1959 for marrying and sentenced to a year in prison, suspended on the condition they leave Virginia. The ruling invalidated similar laws in 16 states.

Newark, New Jersey erupted July 12 after police beat Black cab driver John William Smith and dragged him into the 4th precinct. Five days of unrest killed 26 people — most shot by police and National Guard — injured 725, and resulted in 1,500 arrests. The Governor's Commission found that law enforcement 'responded with excessive and unjustified force.'

President Johnson created the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, chaired by Illinois Governor Otto Kerner, to investigate the causes of 1967 urban uprisings. Its 1968 report concluded: 'Our nation is moving toward two societies, one black, one white — separate and unequal,' and called for massive investment in jobs, housing, and education.

An uprising in Plainfield, New Jersey followed a police beating of a Black youth, Bobby Williams. Officer John Gleason was beaten to death by a crowd. The New Jersey National Guard forcibly searched all Black homes on one street to seize legally owned carbines. The Kerner Commission cited the gun seizures as a major civil liberties violation.

During the Plainfield, New Jersey uprising triggered by police beating of Bobby Williams, the National Guard forcibly searched all Black homes on one street to seize legally owned carbines. The Kerner Commission cited the gun seizures as a major civil liberties violation.

In May 1967, Jackson, Mississippi police fired on a crowd of Black students at Jackson State College following a demonstration, wounding several. Police used this tactic repeatedly throughout the late 1960s, establishing a pattern that culminated in the May 1970 killing of two students. The Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission also maintained files on thousands of Black activists.

The Supreme Court strikes down bans on interracial marriage.

One of the deadliest urban uprisings of the decade.