* The Fifteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1870, prohibits states from depriving citizens the right to vote based on race or color.
Educational Opportunities
* The Morrill Land-Grant Acts of 1862 and 1890 provided federal land to states for the establishment of colleges and universities, many of which were historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs).
* The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination in employment, public accommodations, and government programs on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.
* Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination in federally funded programs on the basis of race, color, or national origin.
Civil Rights Laws
* The Civil Rights Act of 1866, also known as the Ku Klux Klan Act, made it a federal crime to interfere with the civil rights of any person, regardless of race.
* The Civil Rights Act of 1875 prohibited discrimination in public accommodations on the basis of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
Integration
* Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954) Supreme Court decision ruled that "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal". The decision declared state laws establishing segregated schools to be unconstitutional.
* Loving v. Virginia (1967) Supreme Court decision overturned laws against interracial marriage.