Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated.
Urban riots erupt across the country.
Washington D.C. The U.S. Supreme Court prohibits discrimination in rental and sale of all housing. 1970 President Richard M. Nixon creates Office of Minority Business Enterprise to help blacks succeed in business ventures. 1971 Supreme Court rules that busing children outside their neighborhoods to desegregate schools is constitutional. Congressional Black Caucus is organized. 1972 Equal Opportunity and Employment Act is passed, encouraging preferential hiring and promotion of minority and women.