Civil Rights 1950s and 60s Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka Decision came in 1954 Mandated the desegregation of schools in the South Breaks up the ?separate but equal? Plesy vs. Ferguson decision of 1896 Schools had to desegregate in ?deliberate speed? They dragged their feet, avoiding desegregation for as long as possible Little Rock Nine - 1957 Central High School, Little Rock, Arkansas Emmett Till - Mississippi 1955 Birmingham Church Bombing 1961 Freedom Riders Goal of the South was to prevent Northern Carpetbaggers from taking away their way of life Civil War was basically being fought in the South except not on battlefields