Equal Justice Initiative

Montgomery Square is now open. Visit and learn more: montgomerysquare.eji.org

But Japanese farmers soon came to be viewed by white landowners as an economic threat, and their immigrant success became a tool for white politicians, newspaper publishers, and labor unions intent on whipping up anti-Asian fervor—and ending Japanese immigration.

On May 3, 1913, California enacted the Alien Land Law, designed to deny Japanese families their foothold in America by denying them the right to own land.

On this day in 1963, hundreds of Black children began a movement peacefully protesting racial segregation in Birmingham, Alabama, as part of the Children's Crusade and faced intense police brutality, sparking nationwide outrage. calendar.eji.org/racial-injusti…

On this day in 1863, the Confederacy declared that all "negroes or mulattoes, slave or free taken in arms" would be returned to authorities in the state and either re-enslaved or executed. calendar.eji.org/racial-injusti…

“We have come too far to turn around now.” Bryan Stevenson at the dedication of Montgomery Square on March 31, 2026.

The Supreme Court's 6-3 decision in Louisiana v. Callais gutted the Voting Rights Act and, as Justice Elena Kagan wrote in dissent, “threatens a half-century’s worth of gains in voting equality.” eji.org/news/supreme-c…

On this day in 1866, white police officers in Memphis, Tennessee, assaulted Black soldiers, setting off a wave of horrific violence against Black people that lasted several days. calendar.eji.org/racial-injusti…

We are thrilled to be welcoming visionary jazz artists Nate Smith and Lizz Wright to Montgomery for a one-night-only concert in Montgomery on Juneteenth. Get your tickets today! eji.org/news/nate-smit…

"We Am Very Cold" by Kwame Kwame Akoto-Bamfo at Freedom Monument Sculpture Park portrays survivors of the Middle Passage. Plan your visit to the Legacy Sites: legacysites.eji.org

On this day in 1992, an all-white jury in California chose to acquit three of the four officers who violently beat Rodney King during a videotaped arrest. The jury could not agree on a verdict for the fourth officer. calendar.eji.org/racial-injusti…

On this day in 1936, a mob of 40 white men in Colbert, Georgia, lynched a Black farmer named Lint Shaw—just eight hours before he was scheduled to go on trial. calendar.eji.org/racial-injusti…

On this day in 1899, a white mob in Lee County, Georgia, lynched a Black man named Mitchell Daniel for “talking too much” about the brutal lynching of another Black man days earlier. calendar.eji.org/racial-injusti…

On this day in 1862, California approved a burdensome tax on Chinese workers to “protect free white labor” and discourage immigration from China. calendar.eji.org/racial-injusti…

On this day in 1959, a white mob in Mississippi killed a Black man named Mack Charles Parker. No one was ever prosecuted. calendar.eji.org/racial-injusti…

More than 4,400 Black people killed in racial terror lynchings between 1877-1950 are remembered at the National Memorial for Peace and Justice. More than 800 corten steel monuments hold their names–one for each county where a racial terror lynching took place in the US.

On this day in 1877, President Rutherford B. Hayes withdrew federal troops from the last state house in the South, marking the end of Reconstruction. calendar.eji.org/racial-injusti…

On this day in 1963, William Lewis Moore, a white man, was killed in Alabama as he was marching to Mississippi for civil rights. calendar.eji.org/racial-injusti…