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US II-Civil Rights

Terms in this set (33)

Plessy vs. Fergusson
1896 supreme court decision that held that segregation was legal as long as the seperate facilities provided for blacks were equal to those provided to whites
Brown vs. Board of Education
1954- court decision that declared state laws segregating schools to be unconstitutional. Overturned Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) Linda Brown, 8 years old, lived 3 blocks from an all-white school, and had to walk 21 to hers. Oliver Brown tried to register hear at the white school, and this was 1 of 5 cases challenging segregation in schools; lawyer was Thurgood Marshall
Thurgood Marshall
Black attorney who successfully argued the case of Brown V. Board of Eduction in front of the Supreme Court and 1st African American Supreme Court Justice
Lyndon B. Johnson
36th U.S. President. 1963-1969. Democratic, He was the president that assured the nation that "we shall overcome" when he signed the Voting Rights act of 1965. He also took steps to end discrimination earlier when he signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
14th Amendment
This amendment declared that all persons born or naturalized in the United States were entitled equal rights regardless of their race, and that their rights were protected at both the state and national levels.
Civil Rights Act-1964
Gave the government a strong legal tool to prevent job discrimination; paved the way for equal employment opportunity.
Rosa Parks
United States civil rights leader who refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white man in Montgomery (Alabama) and so triggered the national civil rights movement (born in 1913)
Martin Luther King, Jr.
1955; civil rights leader advocated non-violence and civil disobedience as tools for change; organized protests such as the March on Washington. Assassinated 1968.
Malcom X
African American leader during the 1950s and 1960s; eloquent spokesperson for African American self-sufficency; was assassinated in 1965
Robert F. Kennedy
JFK's brother and a senator from NY; Ran against LBJ. won California primary and was then assassinated in 1968. Supported civil rights.
Montgomery Bus Boycott
In 1955, after Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a city bus, Dr. Martin L. King led a boycott of city busses. After 11 months the Supreme Court ruled that segregation of public transportation was illegal.
Congress of Racial Equality
Organization founded by pacifists in 1942 to promote racial equality through peaceful means
Southern Christian Leadership Conference
SCLC-1957-Headed by Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., a coalition of churches and Christians organizations who met to discuss civil rights.
Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee
SNCC -1960-was a student based civil rights organization. Their actions, such as sit-ins, helped pass civil right laws. Off-shoot of SCLC.
March on Washington
held in 1963 to show support for the Civil Rights Bill in Congress. Martin Luther King gave his famous "I have a dream..." speech. 250,000 people attended the rally.
Jim Crow Laws
A system of legal segregation that further degraded blacks, dominating almost every aspect of daily life by the early 1900s. There was segregation in schools, parks, public buildings, hospitals, transportation systems, and movie theatres.
Selma March
1965 King leads 54-mile march to support black voter registration. Despite attacks from police and interference from Gov. Wallace, marchers reach Montgomery. Pres. Johnson addresses nation in support of marchers
Black Panthers
Led by Bobby Seale and Huey Newton, they believed that racism was an inherent part of the U.S. capitalist society and were militant, self-styled revolutionaries for Black Power.
James Meredith
first black student admitted to the University of Mississippi, shot during a civil rights march in 1966
Little Rock Nine
Nine black teenagers who integrated Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957 and became the focus of a national crisis that required the intervention of federal troops to resolve. Federal Judge ordered desegregation of Little Rock schools, but Governor Orval refused. Ike put Arkansas National Guard under federal control and brought in the 101st Airborne Division to uphold federal authority and enforce the law.
Watts Riots
took place in 1964 riots which started Los Angeles and left 30 dead and 1,000 wounded. Riots lasted a week, and spurred hundreds more around the country.
24th Amendment
Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (1964) eliminated the poll tax as a prerequisite to vote in national elections.
Voting Rights Act-1965
gave Blacks the right to vote
Sit-Ins
Organized demonstration in which protesters seat themselves in segregated establishments to protest racial discrimination; became a common practice for many civil rights groups during the 1960s
Albany Movement
Groups like SNCC and NAACP and local groups from Albany, Georgia allied to desegregate by sitting-in, boycotting, and marching to integrate public facilities and secure voting voting rights. Police Chief Pritchett filled jails with demonstrators; prevented white mob violence, and that denied movement of national sympathy, so it failed
Freedom Riders
Campaign by African Americans and white civil rights workers in 1961 to protest segregated southern bus facilities by riding through the Lower South on buses. In 1961, the interracial CORE group rode interstate buses and were beaten by white mobs in Birmingham and Anniston, Alabama. Robert Kennedy sent 400 Federal Marshalls for the rest of the ride, then the Interstate Commerce Commission banned segregation in all interstate levels.
Separate But Equal
Principle upheld in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) in which the Supreme Court ruled that segregation of public facilities was legal.
Provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
1) Forbade racial discrimination in A. federal funds and B. public places (hotels, amusement parks)
2)protect rights of blacks to vote
3) Equal Employment Opportunity Commission: protected the jobs of blacks
4) empowered the attorney General to start court cases to spread desegregation of schools
5) community relations Service: assisted individuals & officials with racial problems at the local level
Mississippi Freedom Summer
In the Summer of 1964- CORE and SNCC, there were voting drives in the Deep South
June 3- civil rights workers disappeared because they were murdered by KKK and police, project workers suffered 1,000 arrests, 80 beatings, 35 shootings, and 30 bombings.
This brought national attention to Mississippi racism, 40 freedom schools, and 60,000 black voters joined the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party.
The MFDP sent delegates to Democratic National Convention challenging the all-white delegates
Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)
Civil rights organization founded in 1957 by Martin Luther King Jr., employed nonviolent means of protest and helped shift the focus of the civil rights movement to the South
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)
Student civil rights organization begun in 1960 to address the concerns of young African Americans; originally part of the SCLC
NAACP
Focused on inequalities between black Nd white schools, usually used the courts and laws
John F Kennedy and Civil Rights
At first, he was hesitant to join the Civil Rights movement , and then he realized he could get a lot more votes if he were to be on board with the civil rights idea, and he ended up wanting to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but was unable to because of his assassination.
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