S.T.O.R.I.E.S.

Historical Timeline

Sequential Timeline of Racist Incidents, Events, and Sites

1889
1889
institutional legislation

Georgia Literacy Test and Poll Tax Enactment (1889)

Georgia passed a new constitution implementing literacy tests and poll taxes to disenfranchise Black voters, following Mississippi’s 1890 model. These measures were applied selectively to exclude African Americans while often exempting poor whites through exemptions. The law drastically reduced Black voting rates …

Atlanta, Georgia, GA
African American Voting rights
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Georgia passed a new constitution implementing literacy tests and poll taxes to disenfranchise Black voters, following Mississippi’s 1890 model. These measures were applied selectively to exclude African Americans while often exempting poor whites through exemptions. The law drastically reduced Black voting rates in the state.
1887
1887
institutional policy

Indian Appropriations Act and Allotment Policy Initiation

The Dawes Act (Indian Appropriations Act of 1887) authorized the federal government to divide Native American tribal lands into individual allotments, breaking up communal land ownership. This policy aimed to assimilate Indigenous peoples by forcing them into private farming and undermining tribal …

Washington, D.C., DC
Indigenous Land & treaties
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The Dawes Act (Indian Appropriations Act of 1887) authorized the federal government to divide Native American tribal lands into individual allotments, breaking up communal land ownership. This policy aimed to assimilate Indigenous peoples by forcing them into private farming and undermining tribal sovereignty. Millions of acres of Native land were subsequently sold to non-Native settlers.
1887
institutional policy

Allotment of Native Lands under the Dawes Act Implementation

The Dawes Act (1887) authorized the breakup of tribal lands into individual allotments, leading to the loss of over 90 million acres of Native land by 1934 [7]. By the 1890s, the policy was actively enforced, dismantling communal land ownership and forcing …

Washington, DC, DC
Indigenous Land & treaties
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The Dawes Act (1887) authorized the breakup of tribal lands into individual allotments, leading to the loss of over 90 million acres of Native land by 1934 [7]. By the 1890s, the policy was actively enforced, dismantling communal land ownership and forcing assimilation [7].
1886
1886
court case discrimination

Yick Wo v. Hopkins

The Supreme Court ruled that a law not discriminatory on its face but administered in a discriminatory way violates the Equal Protection Clause[2]. The case involved a Chinese laundryman, Yick Wo, who was denied a permit under San Francisco's wooden structure ordinance …

San Francisco, California, CA
Asian American Jim Crow
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The Supreme Court ruled that a law not discriminatory on its face but administered in a discriminatory way violates the Equal Protection Clause[2]. The case involved a Chinese laundryman, Yick Wo, who was denied a permit under San Francisco's wooden structure ordinance that was enforced selectively against Asian Americans[2]. This decision established early protections against discriminatory enforcement of laws targeting minority communities[2].
1885
1885
cultural violence

Rock Springs Massacre

A white mob attacked Chinese miners in Rock Springs, killing 28 and injuring 15, while destroying homes and businesses. The massacre was driven by labor competition and anti-Asian racism in the western mining regions. It exemplifies the violent hatred Chinese Americans faced …

Rock Springs, Wyoming, WY
Asian American Labor Racial violence
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A white mob attacked Chinese miners in Rock Springs, killing 28 and injuring 15, while destroying homes and businesses. The massacre was driven by labor competition and anti-Asian racism in the western mining regions. It exemplifies the violent hatred Chinese Americans faced in the American West during the late 19th century.
1883
1883
institutional court case discrimination

Civil Rights Cases (1883)

In a group of five cases, the Supreme Court held that the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments did not empower Congress to outlaw racial discrimination by private individuals[8]. The Court ruled that the Fourteenth Amendment only prohibited state-sponsored denial of equal protection, not …

Washington, D.C., DC
African American Civil rights movement
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In a group of five cases, the Supreme Court held that the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments did not empower Congress to outlaw racial discrimination by private individuals[8]. The Court ruled that the Fourteenth Amendment only prohibited state-sponsored denial of equal protection, not private acts of racism[8]. This decision effectively nullified the Civil Rights Act of 1875 and left Black Americans unprotected from private discrimination for decades[8].
1882
1882
institutional policy

Chinese Exclusion Act

Federal law barred most Chinese immigration and denied naturalization to Chinese residents—the first major U.S. law restricting immigration by nationality. Repealed in stages; remains a landmark of race-based immigration policy.

Washington D.C. (federal law), DC
Asian American
1881
1881
institutional legislation

Tennessee Enacts First Jim Crow Law

Tennessee became the first state to pass a Jim Crow law, mandating that Black and white passengers ride in separate railroad cars. This law established the legal framework for racial segregation in public transportation that would spread across the South. The legislation …

Nashville, Tennessee, TN
African American Jim Crow
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Tennessee became the first state to pass a Jim Crow law, mandating that Black and white passengers ride in separate railroad cars. This law established the legal framework for racial segregation in public transportation that would spread across the South. The legislation marked the beginning of systematic state-sponsored segregation following the end of Reconstruction.