Civil Rights Movement vocab

Racism

Racism

prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior

Segregation

the enforced separation of different racial groups in a country, community, or establishment

Integration

the intermixing of people or groups previously segregated.

Civil Rights

the rights of citizens to political and social freedom and equality

Protest

a public expression of objection, disapproval or dissent towards an idea or action, typically a political one

Color Barrier

unofficial rule that kept African American players out of Major League Baseball and other professional sports

Jackie Robinson

African American baseball player who broke the color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947

Brown v Board of Education

1954 - The Supreme Court overruled Plessy v. Ferguson, declared that racially segregated facilities are inherently unequal and ordered all public schools desegregated.

Little Rock Nine

The nine Black students who integrated Little Rock's Central High School in 1957

Rosa Parks

Black woman who was arrested for not giving up her seat on a bus and helped start the Montgomery Bus Boycott

Boycott

a nonviolent protest where people abstain from using or buying something for political, social, or moral reasons

Sit-in

nonviolent protests in which a person sits and refuses to leave

Freedom Riders

Group of civil rights workers who took bus trips through southern states in 1961 to protest illegal bus segregation

Martin Luther King Jr.

Civil Rights leader who used non-violent protest such as boycotts and marches and gave famous speeches to push for equality for African Americans

Malcolm X

Civil Rights leader who was a member of the Nation of Islam and took a more aggressive approach towards fighting for civil rights for African Americans

Literacy Tests

Method used to deny African-Americans the vote in the South that tested a person's ability to read and write - they were done very unfairly so even though most African-Americans could read and write by the 1950's they still failed.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964

outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin in employment, voting, and public accommodations.

The Voting Rights Act of 1965

Gave the federal government the power to force local officials to allow African Americans to vote. It prevents state and local governments from enacting any voting law that results in discrimination against any race. It also specifically outlawed literacy tests.

Lyndon B. Johnson

President who helped push through and signed into law the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965

Selma March

A march that was attempted three times to protest for voting rights, with many peaceful demonstrators injured and some killed. Led by MLK and John Lewis. Resulted in Voting Rights Act.

Bloody Sunday/Selma

Name for the incident in March 1965 where AL troopers used force to turn back a march from Selma to the state capitol in Montgomery. It compelled President Johnson to call the AL National Guard to protect the marchers. 3 were killed.

SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee)

group formed by student activists; used the sit-in as an effective method of protest

SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference)

group of mostly African American ministers who worked to fight injustice through nonviolence

Thurgood Marshall

NAACP legal counsel (example: Brown v Board of Ed case) and the first African-American Supreme Court Justice

March on Washington

1963 demonstration "for jobs and freedom" in Washington D.C. where MLK gave his "I Have a Dream" speech

CORE (Congress of Racial Equality)

A civil rights organization that were famous for freedom rides (bus journeys challenging racial segregation)