1954: Brown v Board

1957: Little Rock 9

1960: Ruby Bridges desegregates a New Orleans school

1964: Civil Rights Act pass, leading to real enforcement of desegregation. Also this year, half of New York City students walk out of schools to protest segregation. The late 1960's and 70's see serious desegregation efforts including busing.

1974: Key Supreme court case strikes down cross-district segregation plans. Another case in 1973 also upheld the constitutionality of funding schools based on property taxes which allows for extremely unequally-funded districts. Also this year, riots start happening in Boston over busing plans.

1980's: Segregation of Black students reaches an all-time low.

1990's/early 2000's: Segregation starts to rise again and various court decisions chip away at available avenues for desegregation. The most notable is a 2007 Supreme Court case which strikes down even voluntary desegregation plans if they involve assigning individual students based on race. Chief Roberts writes: "The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race."

2013: For the first time, students of color make up the majority of America's public school students.