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Chapter 5: Civil Rights Terms & Topics
civil rights
Protections from discriminatory actions of the government
14th Amendment
Amendment which prohibits the states from making and enforcing laws which deprive people of life, liberty, or property without the due process of law, diminishing them of their privileges & immunities, and denying the equal protection of the laws to anyone within its jurisdiction
Equal Protection of the laws
Clause in the 14th Amendment stressing that all laws established must equally protect everyone under a state’s jurisdiction
13th Amendment
Amendment that abolished slavery
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Law which made discrimination in public areas & employment illegal on the basis of race
suffrage
The legal right to vote
15th Amendment
Amendment which gave suffrage to all men 21 or older regardless of race
poll taxes
Small taxes imposed on the right to vote, used to exclude African Americans who couldn’t afford to pay them
white primary
Primary elections which completely banned African Americans from voting for candidates for the general election, severely silencing their voices
24th Amendment
Amendment prohibiting the use of poll taxes in federal elections
Voting Rights Act of 1965
Law prohibiting limits on the right to vote based on race
19th Amendment
Amendment granting women’s suffrage
Equal Rights Amendment
Amendment prohibiting the federal and state governments from abridging laws and protections on the basis of sex
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
Law protecting disabled people from discrimination and requiring employers and facilities to provide accommodations for them
affirmative action
Policy that gives special treatment, attention, or protections to a discriminated group
Jim Crow laws
laws which enacted segregation (de jure) by establishing separate facilities for white and colored people
Black codes
Laws restricting African Americans the rights of owning property, buying/leasing land, and moving freely in public spaces
literacy tests
Tests which were required to register to vote; targeted African Americans, who weren’t as properly educated due to segregation
use of curfews
Imposed to target black communities, particularly during the civil rights movement to limit protests
Grandfather clause
Clause exempting those with grandfathers able to vote before 1860 from taking literacy tests, blatantly excusing white people from taking them while forcing black people to do so
franchise
A right granted by the government (to individuals)
disenfranchise
The restriction of someone’s rights (such as to vote)
preclearance
Process involving states/localities needing to submit any changes in their election policies or district maps to the federal govt for review before putting them into effect; ensured that these practices weren’t discriminatory
Shelby v. Holder
Case declaring part of the Voting Rights Act unconstitutional, ruling that the formula used to determine what states/localities were subject to preclearance was outdated
Title IX Higher Education Act
Law prohibiting discrimination in education programs on the basis of sex
reverse discrimination
The unfair treatment of a majority group in favor of a minority group
Family & Medical Leave Act
Law allowing legible employees to take an unpaid job-protected leave for family/medical reasons
26th Amendment
Amendment lowering the minimum voting age for everyone to 18
de jure
Segregation enforced by law
de facto
Segregation enforced by reality
