| Term | Definition |
|---|
| Civil Rights | Policies designed to protect people against arbitrary or discriminatory treatment by government officials or individuals |
| Fourteenth Amendment | The constitutional amendment adopted after Civil War that states "no state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." |
| Equal Protection of the Laws | Part of the Fourteenth Amendment emphasizing that the laws must provide equivalent "protection" to all people |
| Civil Rights Act of 1964 | The law that made racial discrimination against any group in hotels, motels, and restaurants illegal and forbade many forms of job discrimination |
| Suffrage | The legal right to vote, extended to African Americans by the Fifteenth Amendment to women by the 19th Amendment, and to people over the age of 18 by the 26th Amendment |
| Poll Taxes | Small taxes levied on the right to vote that often fell due at a time of year when poor African-American sharecroppers had the least cash on hand. This method was used by most Southern States to exclude African Americans from voting. Poll taxes were declared void by the 24th Amendment in 1964. |
| White Primary | One of the means used to discourage African-American voting that permitted political parties in the heavily Democratic South to exclude African Americans from primary elections, thus depriving them of a voice in the real contest. The Supreme Court declared white primaries unconstitutional in 1944. |
| Voting Rights Act of 1965 | A law designed to help end formal and informal barriers to African-American suffrage. Under the law, hundreds of thousands of African-American elected officials increased dramatically |
| Equal Rights Amendment | A constitutional amendment originally introduced by Congress in 1972, stating that "equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex." Despite public support the amendment failed to acquire the necessary support from 3/4 if the state legislatures |
| Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) | A law passed in 1990 that requires employers and public facilities to make "reasonable accommodations" for people with disabilities and prohibits discrimination against these individuals and employment |
| Affirmative Action | A policy designed to give special to or compensatory treatment for members of some previously disadvantaged group. |
| Comparable Worth | The issue raised when women who hold traditionally female jobs are paid less than men for working at jobs requiring compatible skill |
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