civil rigtjs wnd social activism

Brown v. B.O.E. 1954

The landmark Supreme Court case that ruled racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional.

Thurgood Marshall

The civil rights lawyer who argued the Brown v. Board of Education case and later became the first African American Supreme Court Justice.

Dr. MLK Jr.

The prominent civil rights leader and activist who advocated for nonviolent protest and equality.

Civil disobedience

The active, professed refusal of a citizen to obey certain laws, demands, orders, or commands of a government, used as a nonviolent protest tactic.

Sit ins

A form of protest in which demonstrators occupy a place, such as a lunch counter, and refuse to leave until their demands are met.

Freedom rides

A series of political protests against segregation by Blacks and Whites who rode buses together through the American South in 1961.

Freedom Summer

A 1964 voter registration project in Mississippi, aimed at increasing the number of Black registered voters in the South.

March on Washington

A 1963 massive protest for jobs and freedom where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech.

Civil Rights Act 1964

A landmark piece of civil rights legislation that outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

Voting Rights Act 1965

A landmark piece of federal legislation that prohibited racial discrimination in voting.

Little Rock 9

A group of nine African American students who were the first to integrate Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957.

24th Amendment

A constitutional amendment that prohibited any poll tax in elections for federal officials.

Malcolm X

A prominent civil rights activist and minister who advocated for Black empowerment and often challenged the nonviolent approach of the mainstream movement.

Black Panthers

A revolutionary socialist political organization founded to patrol African American neighborhoods to protect residents from acts of police brutality.

Black Power Movement

A political and social movement whose advocates believed in racial pride, economic self-sufficiency, and the creation of Black political and cultural institutions.

De facto segregation

Segregation that exists in practice even if not by law (e.g., housing patterns).

De jure segregation

Segregation that is imposed by law.

LBJ's Great Society

A set of domestic programs in the United States launched by President Lyndon B. Johnson with the main goal of eliminating poverty and racial injustice.

Medicare/Medicaid

Federal programs created as part of the Great Society to provide health insurance for the elderly and low-income individuals.

Election of 1968

A pivotal presidential election won by Richard Nixon, marked by significant social unrest and the impact of the Vietnam War.

Affirmative Action

A policy that favors individuals belonging to groups known to have been discriminated against, particularly in employment and education.

When?

1950s to 1970s