The Bramer Arts

Brown v. Board of Education, 1954

Supreme Court ruling reversing the policy of segregation from Plessy v Ferguson (1896), declaring that seperate can never be equal and a year later ordered the integration of all public schools with all deliberate speed

Montgomery Bus Boycott, 1955

In 1955, after Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a city bus, Dr. Martin L. King led a boycott of city busses. After 11 months the Supreme Court ruled that segregation of public transportation was illegal.

Freedom Riders, 1961

Group of black and white civil rights workers who took bus trips through southern states in 1961 to protest illegal bus segregation. Organized to test Southern compliance with the Supreme Court's desegregation rulings.

March on Washington, 1963

Over 200,000 demonstrators converged on the Lincoln Memorial to hear Dr. King's speech and to celebrate Kennedy's support for the civil rights movement. (putting pressure on the federal government to pass civil rights legislation)

Civil Rights Act of 1964

A strong federal law that authorized federal supervision and enforcement to stop segregation in public accommodations, public facilities, and employment. Also takes steps to make voter registration easier and to have federal assistance in school desegregation.

Selma March

A march that was attempted multiple times as a protest of the lack of voting rights for African Americans. Many demonstrators are injured on "Bloody Sunday" and the violent reaction by law enforcement is aired on TV across the nation. Led by MLK, this march helped the push for a broad in Voting Rights Act.

Voting Rights Act of 1965

A law designed to help end formal and informal barriers to African American obtaining the right to vote. Under this law, hundreds of thousands of African Americans were registered and the number of African American elected officials increased dramatically. Forced areas of the South, with a history of racial discrimination in voting, to have changes or new voting laws approved by the federal government before being put into place.

Jim Crow Laws

State laws across the South, designed to enforce segregation of blacks from whites. Examples include the grandfather clause, a poll tax, use of literacy tests, and the legal enforcement of segregation ("separate but equal." Named after a "blackface" performer from after the Civil War.

Sit-Ins

A prominent form of non-violent protest used by black college students beginning in 1960-1961. Starting in Greensburo, NC, when 4 black men took seats at the "whites only" lunch counters and refused to leave until served. Over 50,000 participated in sit-ins across the South. Their success prompted the formation of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee.

SNCC

Organization founded in 1960 by college students to organize sit-ins and other nonviolent protests and offer young people a voice in the movement; became more radical in the late 1960s under the leadership of Stokely Carmichael

Malcolm X

Born Malcolm Little, he renamed himself X to signify the loss of his African heritage; converted to Nation of Islam in jail in the 1950s, became Black Muslims' most dynamic spokesperson and recruiter. Advocated "black nationalism" and argued for separation, not integration. He moderated his views before his assassination in by members of the Nation of Islam in 1965.

Martin Luther King

Considered the pivotal leader of the American Civil Rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s. Advocated and practiced non-violence and became youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 for his efforts to end segregation and racial discrimination. Led Montgomery Bus Boycott, helped found Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and led March on Washington in 1963 where he delivered "I have a Dream" speech.

Thurgood Marshall

American civil rights lawyer, arguing many cases for the NAACP - including Brown v. Board of Education. The first black justice on the Supreme Court of the United States; an advocate for the rights of minorities and the poor.

Bobby Seale

A key militant leader in the later years of the Civil Rights Movement. Helps to found of the Black Panthers, with Huey Newton, while advocating an end to passive non-violence as a means to get equality. Advocates more separation and fighting back in the quest for civil rights for black Americans.

Stokely Carmichael

Becomes the leader of SNCC in 1966, coined the phrase "black power" as a symbol of racial pride in being of African decent. Advocates for fighting back and demanding equal rights.

Rosa Parks

A civil rights activist who refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white man in Montgomery (Alabama), helping to trigger the national civil rights movement.

Black Panthers

A black political organization that was against peaceful protest and for violence if needed. The organization marked a shift in policy of the black movement, favoring militant ideals rather than peaceful protest; "advocating self-rule for American blacks"

Nation of Islam

A more militant group of black Americans, often called the "black Muslims" who advocate a philosophy of self-help and independence for Black Americans.

Freedom Summer

A movement in 1964, following the ratification of the 24th Amendment and the assassination Medgar Evers, when blacks and whites together challenged segregation and led a massive drive to register blacks to vote in the South.

Little Rock Nine

The first group of black students who were able to attend a formerly all-white school on Arkansas after being blocked because President Eisenhower used the military to enforce the Brown v. Board of Education decision.

De Jure

The type of segregation based on laws, often called "Jim Crow laws."

De Facto

A reality of segregation that is not legal, but is based on unwritten customs or traditions.

Literacy Test

A form of voter intimidation and disenfranchisement (taking away a person's right to vote), where people were not allowed to register to vote unless the could pass a test that proved they were qualified to vote.

14th Amendment

One of the most notable, and controversial, amendments to the US Constitution. States that former slaves are now citizens of the United States and are entitled to equal treatment under the laws of the United States and all of the states in the USA. Ratified in 1868.

24th Amendment

A 1964 Civil Rights achiecement, where the US Constitution was amended to outlaw making people pay to vote (i.e. the poll tax). This tax had been used in the South to keep poor African Americans from voting.

Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896

A 19th century Supreme Court case, where segregation was held as legally OK - as long as the separate facilities (restroom, fountain, seating area, etc.) was considered "equal."

Boycott

A non-violent tactic based on economic pressure, where a company or whole area of business in a community is avoided because of segregation or racist policies. The goal is for a loss of profit to force change upon the business or community.

Civil Disobediance

A non-violent tactic, where civil rights activists specifically violate unjust (or morally wrong) segregation laws, often resulting violence being done upon them and in their arrest.

Project "C"

A planned confrontation taking place in Birmingham, Alabama in 1963. Resulted in many arrests, including Dr. King's. Resulted in his writing of the famed "Letter from a Birmingham Jail. Successfully dramatized for the nation the plight of African Americans in the South when children were arrested and attacked as part of the protest.

Elementary and Secondary Act of 1965

A far-reaching federal law that provided aid to schools based on number of students from low income homes, emphasizing equal access to education with high standards, accountability, professional development. Aimed to close the achievement gaps that exist in American schools.

Economic Opportunity Act of 1964

A new program responsible for creating Job Corps, VISTA and other programs to fight the War on Poverty in America.

Medicare

A federal program of health insurance for persons 65 years of age and older. ("care for the old")

Medicaid

A federal and state assistance program that pays for health care services for people who cannot afford them. ("aid for the poor")

Great Society

1964, LBJ's policies of fighting poverty and racial injustice. Based on his belief that government could help create a better, more equal & more prosperous society. Elevated the federal government to more prominent role in American life.

VISTA

LBJ's version of the Peace Corps for use inside the United States, standing for the "Volunteers In Service To America."

War on Poverty

President Lyndon B. Johnson's program in the 1960's to provide greater social services for the poor and elderly, linked to studies such as Micheal Harrington's "The Other America."