1967

June
In Loving v. Virginia, 388 U.S. 1 (1967), the Supreme Court strikes down Virginia’s ban on interracial marriages. It holds that all racial classifications are to be subjected to the “most rigid scrutiny.” This test of “strict scrutiny” means that a classification is almost always unconstitutional.

On the 13th, President Johnson nominates Solicitor General Thurgood Marshall to the Supreme Court. He takes his seat in October, becoming the first African-American Justice of the Supreme Court. It turns out to be the last Supreme Court appointment the Democrats will make for 27 years.

July
Race riots erupt in cities across the country, including Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Memphis, Milwaukee, and Newark. President Johnson forms a National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders (The Kerner Commission) to investigate the causes of the riots in the urban centers. The Commission issues its report on March 1, 1968, warning that the nation is rapidly moving toward two separate societies� -one black and poor, the other affluent and white. It calls for major anti-poverty efforts and strengthened civil rights enforcement to eliminate the causes of the disorders.

Year: 
1967
Decade: