American Cultures Civil Rights Movement

De jure segregation

Segregation that is imposed by law

De facto segregation

Unwritten custom or tradition; No official law pertaining to segregation / Ex: not be able to sit at a lunch counter

Congress of Racial Equality

Civil Rights organization for equality

Jackie Robinson

1st African American to play in MLB / broke the color barrier in 1947

Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

NAACP challenged 'Separate but Equal'; All 9 Justices supported the Brown decision, made it illegal to deny children of color access to white schools

Chief Justice Warren's statement

'In the field of public education, the doctrine of 'Separate but Equal' has no place'

Brown vs Board of Education II (1955)

Forced all Southern States Schools to desegregate quickly & with 'all deliberate' speed

The Little Rock Nine

A group of nine black students who enrolled at formerly all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, in September 1957

Civil Rights Act of 1957

President Eisenhower sent Congress a proposal for civil rights legislation. It authorized the prosecution for those who violated the right to vote for United States citizens.

Rosa Parks

Civil Rights Activist / one of the leaders of the Montgomery Bus Boycott

Montgomery Bus Boycott

African Americans boycotted the bus company in Montgomery for over a year

Martin Luther King Jr.

Became the spokesman of the Civil Rights Movement

SCLC

Southern Christian Leadership Conference; Founding member was Martin Luther King Jr.

Sit-ins

African Americans would sit at lunch counters to protest segregation / often met with violent acts

SCC

Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee; Students who met at Shaw University, Raleigh NC, to protest segregation & civil rights

The Freedom Riders

African Americans would ride buses to Southern States to protest segregation

Role of JFK

At first, did not want to be involved in the Civil Rights movement; urged Congress to pass desegregation laws after the Freedom Riders movement.

James Meredith and Ole Miss

Air Force veteran; 1st African American student at the Univ of Mississippi (1962) with help of NAACP.

Medgar Evars

An American civil rights activist in Mississippi, the state's field secretary for the NAACP & World War II veteran.

Woolworth Lunch Counter

A location where sit-ins occurred to protest segregation.

Wade-ins

Protests at public beaches to challenge segregation.

Read-ins

Protests at libraries to challenge segregation.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

Legislation urged by JFK to end segregation.

Interstate Transportation

Covered under Federal Regulations, relevant to the Freedom Riders.

Grass roots movement

Goal of SCC to involve all classes of African Americans in the struggle for equality.

Violence shown in newspapers & on TV

A factor that influenced JFK's involvement in the Civil Rights movement.

NAACP

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, helped James Meredith.

Birmingham

Known as the most segregated city in the South.

The March on Washington

August 28th, 1963; Civil Rights supporters gathered in Washington DC to put pressure on Congress to pass the Civil Rights Bill.

LBJ and the Civil Rights Act of 1964

Assumed the Presidency after the assassination of JFK; President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Senate Filibustered the Bill

The bill was filibustered for 80 days.

Freedom Summer

Civil rights activists traveled to Mississippi to register African Americans to vote, meeting resistance & violence from the Ku Klux Klan.

MFDP

Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party.

Fannie Lou Hamer

Gave testimony at the Democratic Convention about abuse & beatings due to wanting the right to vote.

Selma

1965: Selma to Montgomery voting rights marches led by James Bevel, Hosea Williams, Martin Luther King Jr., and John Lewis.

Voting Rights Act of 1965

No state can deny a person the right to vote based on race, or can be given a literacy test before they can vote.

Twenty-Fourth Amendment

Gave every US citizen the right to vote in any election and banned the poll tax.

The Kerner Commission

Group of President Johnson's advisors who were brought together to understand & study the violence & riots during 1965-1967.

Malcolm X

Civil Rights activist who was a minister of the Nation of Islam, believed in the use of violence & was in favor of segregation.

Stokely Carmichael

A Trinidadian-American civil rights activist known for leading the SNCC and the Black Panther Party in the 1960s.

The Black Panthers

A black militant group organized to protect African Americans from the police and promoted violence as a means to get action from the Federal Government.

Civil Rights Advancements

Eliminated legal (de jure) segregation, increased African American voting/political participation, and African American poverty rates fell.

Median income and high school graduation

Increased among African Americans as a result of civil rights advancements.

First African American justice on SCOTUS

Significant milestone in the history of the United States Supreme Court.

Banned discrimination in housing

A key advancement in civil rights legislation.

Assassinated in 1963

Refers to the assassination of a key civil rights leader.

Organized voter-registration

Efforts to increase voter registration among African Americans.

Economic boycotts

Strategic actions taken to protest against racial discrimination.

Investigated crimes perpetrated against blacks

Efforts to address and document violence against African Americans.