1950s:Before 1965, fewer than six percent of African Americans in Mississippi are registered to vote.

1960s:After the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, thousands of southern African Americans register to vote. By 1968, some fifty-nine percent of eligible African-American voters in Mississippi are registered.

Today:In the late 1990s, of the total 1,975,000 of Mississippi voters, 670,000 are African American. Overall in the United States, 23.5 million African Americans are registered to vote, but only 63.5 percent report having voted in the 1996 presidential election.

1950s:Prior to 1962, universities and colleges in the South are not open to African Americans. As they are forced to do at the lower educational levels, African Americans attend their own schools.

1960s:In 1962, a court order forces the University of Mississippi to admit African-American James Meredith. When he arrives on campus, a riot breaks out. Flanked by armed guards, Meredith attends classes...