Existing comment:
1924 Indian Citizenship Act:
Native Americans are granted US citizenship.
1926 Corrigan v Buckley:
Washington DC resident John J Buckley sues his neighbor Irene Corrigan, arguing that a restrictive covenant prevents here from selling her house to a black woman, Helen Curtis. The US Supreme Court agrees, and the sale is blocked.
"[N]o part of said premises shall be sold, given, conveyed or leased to any negro or negroes, and no permission or license to use or occupy any part thereof shall be given to any negro except house servants or janitors or chauffeurs employed thereon as aforesaid."
-- Standard Form, Restrictive Covenant, drafted for Chicago Real Estate Board, 1927
1929 Martin Luther King Jr. born:
As a child, King attends segregated schools in Georgia. Later, he becomes a leader of the US Civil Rights Movement. His work, characterized by nonviolent protests for justice and equality, earns him the Nobel Peace Prize and makes him a national hero.
"I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law."
-- Martin Luther King, Jr., "Letter from Birmingham Jail", 1963
1935 Social Security Act:
The act creates a system of monthly income, as well as disability, unemployment and survivor benefits, for most Americans 65 and older. But it specifically excludes two occupations, agricultural workers and domestic servants -- jobs held mainly by African Americans, Mexicans, and Asians at this time.
1942 Japanese Internment:
Following Japan's December 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor, the federal government declares that no one of Japanese ancestry may live on the West Coat. Nearly 120,000 people are forced to leave their homes and are moved into internment camps. Many families lose their homes and businesses. In 1988, the US government officially apologizes for these actions and offers a $20,000 per-internee reparations payment.
1944 Korematsu v United States:
Fred Korematsu, like everyone of Japanese ancestry on the West Coast in 1942, is ordered relocated to an internment camp. He evades internment, is arrested and convicted and then sues, arguing that his constitutional rights have been violated. The case goes to the US Supreme Court, which rules against him.
"[I]f any fundamental assumption underlies our system, it is that guilt is personal and not inheritable."
-- Justice Robert H Jackson, dissenting opinion, Korematsu v US (1944) |