1968

Martin Luther King Jr. was shot on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, at 6:01 PM by James Earl Ray using a Remington rifle. King died at St. Joseph's Hospital. He had come to Memphis to support striking sanitation workers, many of whom were Black. Ray pleaded guilty in 1969 and was sentenced to 99 years.

Martin Luther King Jr. was shot on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, where he had traveled to support a sanitation workers' strike. He died at St. Joseph's Hospital. James Earl Ray was arrested and convicted. Uprisings erupted in over 100 U.S. cities; 46 people died. The assassination directly accelerated passage of the Fair Housing Act.

President Johnson signed the Fair Housing Act one week after MLK's assassination, banning discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of housing based on race, religion, national origin, and (amended in 1974) sex. Congress had blocked the bill three times before; MLK's assassination and nationwide uprisings created the political conditions for passage.

South Carolina Highway Patrol officers opened fire on Black student protesters at South Carolina State College in Orangeburg, killing Samuel Hammond Jr. (18), Henry Smith (18), and Delano Middleton (17). Twenty-seven others were wounded, most shot in the back while fleeing. Nine patrolmen were tried and acquitted. The event received little national coverage compared to Kent State two years later.

The National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders (Kerner Commission) issued its report February 29, 1968, concluding: 'Our nation is moving toward two societies, one black, one white — separate and unequal.' It directly attributed urban rebellions to white racism, police brutality, unemployment, and housing segregation. President Johnson largely ignored its recommendations.

The National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders concluded: 'Our nation is moving toward two societies, one black, one white, separate and unequal.' It attributed urban rebellions to white racism, police brutality, unemployment, and housing segregation. President Johnson largely ignored its recommendations.

Following Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination on April 4, uprisings erupted in over 100 American cities. In Washington DC, 12 people were killed, over 1,000 injured, and 7,600 arrested over several days. More than 1,200 buildings were burned. President Johnson deployed over 13,000 federal troops and National Guard to the capital.

After winning gold and bronze in the 200-meter sprint at the Mexico City Olympics, Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised black-gloved fists during the national anthem. Australian silver medalist Peter Norman wore an Olympic Project for Human Rights badge in solidarity. Smith and Carlos were suspended from the U.S. team and expelled from the Olympic Village.

FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover designated the Black Panther Party 'the greatest threat to the internal security of the country' and directed COINTELPRO operations against it. Tactics included forged letters to create conflict between the Panthers and other groups, planting informants, arresting leaders on fabricated charges, and orchestrating the 1969 murder of Fred Hampton.

Shirley Chisholm won election to represent New York's 12th congressional district, becoming the first Black woman elected to the U.S. Congress. Her campaign slogan was 'Unbought and Unbossed.' She would go on to run for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1972, becoming the first Black candidate to seek a major party's presidential nomination.

Shirley Chisholm won election to represent New York's 12th congressional district, becoming the first Black woman elected to Congress. Her campaign slogan was 'Unbought and Unbossed.' In 1972 she became the first Black candidate to seek a major party's presidential nomination.

Memphis police deployed Mace on peaceful marchers supporting striking sanitation workers on February 23, spraying women and ministers. The strike had begun after two Black workers, Echol Cole and Robert Walker, were crushed to death in a garbage truck. MLK came to Memphis in this context and was assassinated there.

Memphis police deployed Mace against a peaceful march of striking sanitation workers and their supporters on February 23, spraying women and ministers. The action galvanized the community. It was in this context that Martin Luther King Jr. came to Memphis, where he was assassinated on April 4. The strike had begun after two Black workers, Echol Cole and Robert Walker, were crushed to death in a garbage truck.

FBI COINTELPRO disseminated fabricated stories claiming Stokely Carmichael was a CIA informant, designed to endanger his life among Black nationalist groups. Internal memos stated the goal was to create suspicion that would 'neutralize' Carmichael. He moved to Guinea in 1969 partly due to threats.

The FBI's COINTELPRO program disseminated fabricated stories claiming Stokely Carmichael was a CIA informant, designed to endanger his life among Black nationalist groups. Internal FBI memos from 1968 stated the goal was to create 'suspicion amongst the Black community' that would lead to Carmichael being 'neutralized.' Carmichael moved to Guinea in 1969 in part due to threats.

Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 (the Fair Housing Act) prohibited not only discrimination in housing sales and rentals but also in mortgage lending and home insurance — practices known as redlining that had systematically excluded Black Americans from wealth-building homeownership since the 1930s. Enforcement mechanisms were initially weak.

The Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in Jones v. Alfred H. Mayer Co. that the Civil Rights Act of 1866 prohibited all racial discrimination in the sale or rental of property — both public and private. The ruling went beyond the Fair Housing Act by applying to all property transactions and had no administrative exemptions.

Students from the Student Afro-American Society, led by William Sales, occupied Hamilton Hall at Columbia University to protest the university's plan to build a gym in Morningside Park — a park serving the predominantly Black Harlem community — and Columbia's ties to the Institute for Defense Analyses. The occupation helped spark a broader student rebellion.

King is murdered in Memphis while supporting striking sanitation workers; uprisings follow nationwide.

1,300 Black sanitation workers strike under the banner "I Am A Man" — the cause that brought Martin Luther King Jr. to Memphis.

A federal commission warns the nation is "moving toward two societies, one black, one white — separate and unequal," and blames white racism.

Passed days after King's death, it bans housing discrimination — though redlining's damage endures.

King's last crusade, carried on after his death, builds Resurrection City on the National Mall to demand economic justice for all poor Americans.

Tommie Smith and John Carlos raise gloved fists in Mexico City.