1968 ⟶ Fair Housing Act Introduced
The Fair Housing Act (Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of ...
Year
1945
1964
1968
👑 Bess Myerson and the Miss America Pageant
Bess Myerson was the first Jewish-American and the first Miss New York (competing as Miss New York City, a competition organized by a local radio station) to win the Miss America Pageant as Miss America 1945. As the only Jewish contestant, Myerson was encouraged by the pageant directors to change her name to "Bess Meredith" or "Beth Merrick" but she refused. After winning the title (and as a Jewish Miss America), Myerson received few endorsements and later recalled that "I couldn't even stay in certain hotels there would be signs that read no coloreds, no Jews, no dogs. I felt so rejected. Here I was chosen to represent American womanhood and then America treated me like this." She thus cut short her Miss America tour and instead traveled with the Anti-Defamation League. In this capacity, she spoke against discrimination in a talk entitled, "You Can't Be Beautiful and Hate."⟶
Post-WarUnited StatesDiscriminationAntisemitismMiss AmericaBess MyersonCivil RightsJewish American
United States⚖️ US Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil rights Act of 1964 (Pub. L. 88–352, 78 Stat. 241, enacted July 2, 1964) is a landmark piece of Civil rights legislation in the United States that outlawed discrimination based on religion, race, color, sex, or national origin.⟶
Civil RightsLegislationDiscriminationUnited StatesRaceReligionEquality1960s
United States🏠 Fair Housing Act Introduced
The Fair Housing Act (Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968) in the United States introduced meaningful federal enforcement mechanisms. It outlawed:⟶
Fair Housing ActUnited StatesCivil Rights1960sDiscriminationLegislationRacial discriminationHousingSocial Justice
United States💣 Ku Klux Klan Bombing of Beth Israel Synagogue
During the American Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, the leadership of Beth Israel spoke out against the Ku Klux Klan's attacks on black churches. In response, Thomas Tarrants of Mobile, Alabama, who had helped bomb the synagogue building of a different synagogue, Beth Israel Congregation, and its rabbi's house there (see previous entry in this timeline) bombed Beth Israel's education building on 28 May 1968. The force of the blast knocked down several walls of the education building and caved in part of the roof while also destroying a door at the opposite end of the synagogue building. A hole approximately 24 inches (61 cm) in diameter was left in the concrete floor, and damages were estimated to be around $50,000 (equivalent to $452,000 today). According to Sammy Feltenstein, past president of Congregation Beth Israel, pieces of stained glass that survived the bombing were salvaged and adorn the front window of the synagogue today. Later that year, on 30 June, Tarrants returned to Meridian to bomb the home of Meyer Davidson, an outspoken leader of the Jewish community, on 29th Avenue. But the FBI and police chief Roy Gunn convinced Raymond and Alton Wayne Roberts, local Klan members, to gather information about the Klan's operations, and leaders of the Jewish communities in Jackson and in Meridian had raised money to pay the two informants, who tipped off the FBI about the attack before it happened.⟶
Ku Klux KlanBombingSynagogueCivil Rights MovementUnited States1960sWhite SupremacyAntisemitismHate Crime
United States