Civil Rights / Equal Rights - Race Discrimination

Flashcards covering key vocabulary and concepts related to civil rights and race discrimination.

Discrimination

Refers to irrational suspicion or hatred of people, and differential treatment on the basis of race, religion, sex, skin color, ethnic background, national origin, or sexual orientation.

Metaphor of 'chairs at a table'

Illustrates the idea of equality and having a place at the table, indicating that not everyone supports diversity.

Beginning and end of slavery in the U.S.

Slavery began in 1619 and ended in 1865.

Financial disparity in education before desegregation

Between 2x and 10x more money was spent on schools for white children compared to Black children.

NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund

Began bringing suits against states in the 1930s under Thurgood Marshall's leadership.

Legal question in Brown v. Board of Education

Questioned whether 'separate but equal' provided true equality in public education.

Missouri ex rel. Gaines v. Canada (1938) ruling

Supreme Court ruled that offering a scholarship to an out-of-state school was not a substitute for admitting a Black student to a state law school.

Result of Sipuel v. University of Oklahoma Regents (1948)

Thurgood Marshall represented Ada Sipuel; Supreme Court ruled she must be admitted just four days after oral arguments.

McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents (1950) ruling

Supreme Court found physical separation within the same institution unconstitutional under the Equal Protection Clause.

Supreme Court ruling in Sweatt v. Painter (1950)

Ruled that the separate law school created for Black students was not equal due to significant disparities.

Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

Ruled that separate educational facilities are inherently unequal and rejected 'separate but equal' doctrine.

Massive resistance

Efforts to shut down public schools to prevent integration post-Brown ruling.

Civil Rights Act of 1964 effect on school desegregation

Cut off federal aid to school districts that continued segregating schools.

Literacy tests in voting suppression

Difficult tests used to suppress Black voting rights.

Poll taxes

Tax imposed to vote; abolished for federal elections in 1964 and for state elections in 1966.

Smith v. Allwright (1944) ruling

Supreme Court ruled political parties cannot racially exclude voters from state-sanctioned primaries.

Selma to Montgomery March

Led to the Voting Rights Act of 1965, emphasizing the need for federal voter rights legislation.

Voting Rights Act of 1965

Suspended literacy tests, sent federal registrars to register voters, and monitored elections.

Shelby County v. Holder (2013) ruling

Overturned key provisions of the Voting Rights Act, allowing states to enact voting restrictions without federal approval.

Texas’s 2021 voting law provisions

Included restrictions on early voting hours, a ban on drive-thru voting, and criminalized unsolicited mail-in ballot applications.

Jim Crow laws impact

Created segregation in public life including shopping, education, and transportation.

Fourteenth Amendment and public accommodation discrimination

The Equal Protection Clause covers government action, not private businesses; Congress used the Commerce Clause instead.

Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

Prohibits discrimination in public accommodations based on race, color, religion, or national origin; upheld by Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States.

Civil Rights Act of 1968

Made it illegal to discriminate based on race, religion, color, or national origin; later amended to include sex and children.

Racially restrictive covenants

Provisions used to prevent homeowners from selling to individuals of a different race; struck down by the Supreme Court in 1948.

Steering in housing discrimination

When realtors only show homes in neighborhoods that match the buyer's racial background.