Affirmative Action
Programs in place to help groups that have been historically segregated against. Often in college admissions.
Brown V. Board of Education(1954)
Struck down “separate but equal” precedent that was set in Plessy v. Ferguson, the decision integrated schools.
Civil Disobedience
Purposefully breaking a law to demonstrate that the law is unjust.
Comparable Worth
A doctrine that basically states workers that have the same qualifications must be payed the same regardless of sex or race.
Coverture
Once a woman married a man, the legal rights of the woman were basically absorbed into the husbands.
de facto segregation
Segregation done by private individuals
de jure segregation
Segregation done by the government
Disenfranchisement
Losing the right to vote
Equal Protections Clause
A clause of the 14th Amendment that forced states to enforce the law equally on all citizens.
Equal Rights Amendment(ERA)
A proposed amendment that would have prohibited all discrimination based on sex.
Glass Ceiling
A metaphorical border stopping woman from reaching the top level in an organization.
Grandfather Clause
the provision in some southern states that allowed illiterate White people to vote because their ancestors had been able to vote before the Fifteenth Amendment was ratified
Intermediate Scrutiny
Court standard for sex based laws. Burden of proof is on the Gov. to prove it’s interest in treating genders differently
Jim Crow Laws
State laws that promoted segregation and kept Black people from voting.
Literacy Tests
A test administered at a poll in order to vote, used to disenfranchise minority voters.
Plessy V. Ferguson(1896)
Legalized “separate but equal” under the 14th Amendment.
Poll Tax
Forcing people to pay to vote, used to Disenfranchise minority voters
Rational Basis Test
On the person challenging the law to prove that there is no good reason for them to be treated differently.
Strict Scrutiny
Court standard for race based laws. On government to prove it’s interest and there are no alternative means for completing it’s goal.
Title IX
Part of U.S Education Amendments that ban discrimination in Education based on Sex, often used by DOJ Civil Rights to sue state prisons and other entities.
White Primary
Only whites being allowed to vote in the primary in southern staters.