History of Racism Timeline:
1681. The label, “White,” first appears in law in an enactment passed by the colonial assembly of the colony of Maryland.
1787. Slavery is legalized. Black persons are considered three-fifths human.
1790. Naturalization Act limits citizenship to only free white people.
1831 to 1838. The Trail of Tears. Forced relocation of Native American nations.
1844. Oregon says no to slavery, but “Blacks” and “Mulattos” are not allowed to live here.
1844. Oregon Lash Law. Black people are banned from the territory. Violators are threatened with 20 to 39 lashes across the back every six months until they leave.
1850. Oregon Donation Land Act offers free land to “Whites” and “Half-Breed” Indians.
1862. Homestead Act. The U.S. sells Native American land to settlers.
1862. Oregon Residence Tax for all Black people, Chinese, Hawaiians, and “Mulattos.”
1862. Oregon bans interracial marriages between whites and anyone a quarter or more Black.
1864. The 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution abolishes slavery.
1866. Congress passes the Civil Rights Act of 1866, declaring that all persons born in the United States are now citizens, without regard to race, color, or previous condition
1866. Oregon does not pass the 14th Amendment granting citizenship to Black people.
1870. Naturalization Act of 1870 excludes Asians and Native Americans.
1870. Oregon does not pass the 15th Amendment granting voting rights to Black men.
1871. Indian Appropriations Act dissolves Native American tribes as nations.
1876. Jim Crow Laws enforce racial segregation.
1878. Supreme Court rules that Chinese are ineligible for citizenship.
1882. Chinese Exclusion Act prohibits all immigration of Chinese laborers.
1887. Dawes Act dissolves tribal land and provides parcels to individuals.
1896. Plessy versus Ferguson upholds “separate, but equal” laws.
1901. U.S. citizenship is granted to the five “Civilized Tribes.”
1917. Immigration Act of 1917 bars Asians and all immigrants over the age of sixteen who are illiterate.
1922. Takao Ozawa is denied citizenship because the Supreme Court majority does not consider him to be Caucasian or white.
1923. Bhagat Singh Thind, who fought for the U.S. in World War I, is denied citizenship because although he is Caucasian, he is not considered white in the traditional sense.
1923. Oregon Business Restriction Law allows cities to reject business licenses for Japanese Americans.
1924. Indian Citizenship Act grants full U.S. citizenship to Indians.
1924. Immigration Act of 1924 denies legal U.S. entry to Mexicans.
1926. Oregon repeals Exclusion Law allowing Black people to live in the state.
1927. Oregon allows Black people and Chinese to vote.
1930 to 1940. U.S. deports six-hundred-thousand Mexicans, including American Citizens.
1935. Oregon Law segregates Mexican students of Indian descent, not fair-skinned descendants of Spaniards.
1935. National Labor Relations Act protects workers’ rights, but excludes farm workers.
1942. President Roosevelt signs Executive Order 9066, sending 120,000 Americans of Japanese Ancestry to incarceration camps.
1951. Oregon repeals law prohibiting interracial marriages.
1954. Brown Versus Board of Education of Topeka declares separate schools for Black and white students unconstitutional.
1957. Little Rock Nine. Arkansas Governor blocks nine Black students from Little Rock High School.
1957. Oregon Fair Housing Act declares it unlawful to discriminate solely because of race, color, religion, or national origin.
1964. President Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
1965. Voting Rights Act outlaws discriminatory voting practices.
1967. Loving Versus Virginia invalidates laws prohibiting interracial marriage.
1968. Civil Rights Act of 1968 outlaws housing discrimination.
1988. President Reagan signs Civil Liberties Act of 1988, granting reparations to Japanese Americans incarcerated during World War II.
1991. Civil Rights Act of 1991 strengthens the 1964 act by providing the right to trial on discrimination claims, among other provisions.
2002. Oregonians vote to remove all racist language from its constitution including the clause: “No free Negro, or mulatto, not residing in this state at the time of the adoption of this constitution, shall come, reside, or be within this State, or hold any real estate.” 29% of the voters opposed removing the language.
2013. The Supreme Court strikes down the heart of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.