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By: Priscilla Wiredu
Black history is a crucial aspect of life that influences American norms, values, and political culture.
Many African Americans have fought for equal rights through lawsuits to achieve justice and to reform American policy.
This article outlines the top five Black legal cases in U.S. history.
Rodney King (1991)
On March 3, 1991, the Rodney King incident occurred when the Los Angeles Police Department officers Stacey Koon, Laurence Powell, Theodore Briseno, and Timothy Wind stopped a 25 year old motorist named Rodney King for a traffic violation.
Disturbing footage taken by witness George Holliday revealed that the police officers engaged in police brutality. These officers were seen striking King over fifty times with nightsticks after allegedly resisting orders.
With the footage broadcasted nationwide, the officers involved were expected to face charges for use of excessive force and assault with a deadly weapon. These charges were expected to be issued within a week.
The officers would be acquitted of all charges the following year.
Besides the distressing aspects of the case, the backlash of the verdict was also significant with respect to the Rodney King case.
The riots consisted of Los Angeles residents who reacted with anger to the verdict and were seen protesting on the streets of LA.
From April 29 until May 15, 1992, networks exhausted both their resources and airtime by documenting the uprising. Riots quickly mobilized across the nation.
The riots ended shortly after the California National Guard and U.S. military deployed over 10,000 armed first responders to end the violent and unprecedented unrest.
With over 50 casualties, 2,000 injured, thousands of arrests, and about $1 billion in damaged property, the riots were deemed as one of the most devastating civil disruptions in American history.
The Central Park Five (1989)
On April 20, 1989, the trial of the Central Park Five occurred. This case involved an injured 28 year old Investment Banker named Trisha Meili located in Central Park, New York.
Meili endured severe injuries that left her in a coma for two weeks, having no memory of the attack when conscious. The unjust arrest of five Black and Latino teens resulted in them being titled ‘The Central Park Five.’
In 2002, when genetic evidence was released coupled with a confession, Matias Reyes was proven guilty.
The Central Park Five reignited civil and racial unrest in New York, with many blaming the media for aiding in harmful preconceived notions of the Black youth.
With the five now exonerated, a civil lawsuit was enacted by the five, now adults, against the city in 2003. They each received a financial remedy equaling $1 million for each year of imprisonment. Four boys were served seven years, and another with 13.
Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
May 17, 1954, was the day the U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous ruling that would segregate children in public schools, deemed unconstitutional.
Preceded by the Plessy v. Ferguson case, this decision mobilized the civil rights movement.
The decision received backlash from disapproving racists and supremacists, yet many Black residents encouraged this decision.
For the next 15 years, the Warren Court was granted with discretion powers to make rulings on cases that affected race relations.
They also overlooked the administration of criminal justice, the operation of the political process, and the separation of church and state.
The impact of the Brown v. Board of Education case extended to issues beyond the educational system.
In 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat for a white man on an Alabama bus, which led to her arrest.
The arrest gave rise to the Montgomery bus boycott leading to many other boycotts, sit-ins, and demonstrations. These movements led to the eventual overturning of Jim Crow laws across the South.
In 1964, the passing of the Civil Rights Act led to the beginning of mass desegregation across institutions in America.
In 1960, a six year old Black girl named Ruby Bridges transformed American history, recognized as the first Black child to enter a non-segregated school in her Deep Southern home.
If it was not for the ruling and impact of Brown v. Board of Education, the integration of schools would not have been possible.
Loving v. Virginia (1967)
A story of resilience and unconditional love, the aptly named Loving v. Virginia case led to the legalization of interracial marriage.
On June 12, 1967, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation statutes in Virginia were deemed unconstitutional.
On June 2, 1985, Richard Loving, a white man, married Black and Indigenous Mildred Jeter in Washington D.C. Unfortunately, the couple was unable to officially tie the knot in their home state of Virginia.
The couple was arrested for violating the ban on interracial marriage, given interracial marriage was illegal in the state. This law challenged the strength of their relationship.
The Lovings sued the state of Virginia and appealed to the Supreme Court.
As a result, the court found that racial distinctions were unlawful, unjust, and “odious to free people.” Many were subject to scrutiny under the Equal Protection clause. The court also ruled that the Virginia law violated the due process clause within the 14th amendment, which upholds fair treatment in the justice system.
“Under our Constitution, the freedom to marry, or not marry, a person of another race resides with the individual, and cannot be infringed by the State.” – Chief Justice Earl Warren
The O.J. Simpson Trial (1995)
Recognized globally as the “Trial of the Century,” the infamous OJ Simpson trial was about the retired Football Star and Sportscaster OJ Simpson in 1995. He was accused of murdering his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman, on June 12, 1994.
With the hiring of lawyer Robert Shapiro, a legal defense dream team formed to create a narrative of how the Los Angeles Police Department’s history of lazy detective work, corruption, and prejudice against Black LA residents had concocted a conspiracy to frame OJ Simpson.
The case secured its place in American pop culture and history because of the features surrounding the trial.
From iconic moments representative of the blunders of the prosecution, including the infamous “trying on of the gloves” by OJ himself, to disgraced ex-officer Mark Furhman pleading the fifth multiple times before being dismissed by the prosecutors, something very revealing about racial attitudes was disclosed by the defense team.
Upon the global viewing of Simpson’s Bronco chase, to his acquittal, many people still discuss the events.
The O.J. Simpson case is not notorious solely for the guilt of Simpson, whether he engaged in the act or not. It also uncovers the injustices Black citizens face on a daily basis in America. Occuring only two years after the Rodney King LA riots, the OJ Simpson case allowed white Americans to see how Black Americans live within a society that continues to dehumanize them.
The acquittal and the entire state of Los Angeles’ reaction prompted a presidential apology by President Bill Clinton to Black citizens on behalf of the criminal justice system. In short, white people felt victimized and responsible for the case, so they felt obligated to make amends.
“If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit.” – Johnny Cochrane
These court cases are imperative milestones in American Civil Rights history, as many involve the most crucial rulings in the U.S. Supreme Court history. The efforts invested in these legal cases bring awareness towards racial inequality. They also shed light on how civil rights activists increased efforts to end institutionalized racism in North America.
Priscilla Wiredu is a writer for this year’s Black Voice project. An alumni of York University, she graduated with Honors where she studied Social Sciences. She then went on to get an Ontario Graduate certificate in Creative Writing from the Humber School for Writers, and a college certificate in Legal Office Administration at Seneca College. She is currently studying for the LSAT in hopes of going to law school. Her main goal as a Black Voices writer is to ensure Black issues and Black Pride are enunciated through her works.