Civil Rights Terms and Events

Flashcards for key vocabulary, people, and events related to the Civil Rights Movement.

SEGREGATION

The enforced separation of racial groups in schools, housing, and public facilities.

INTEGRATION

The process of ending racial segregation and bringing people of different races together in schools and communities.

CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT

A movement during the 1950s–1960s aimed at ending racial discrimination and achieving equal rights for African Americans.

BOYCOTT

A protest where people refuse to use or buy goods or services to bring about change.

CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE

Nonviolent refusal to obey laws considered unjust, often used during the Civil Rights Movement.

THURGOOD MARSHALL

The first African American Supreme Court Justice; he argued the Brown v. Board of Education case before the Supreme Court.

PLESSY VS. FERGUSON

An 1896 Supreme Court case that upheld racial segregation under the “separate but equal” doctrine.

BROWN VS. BOARD OF EDUCATION

A 1954 Supreme Court decision that declared segregation in public schools unconstitutional, overturning Plessy v. Ferguson.

NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People)

An organization that fought (and still fights) for civil rights through legal action and advocacy.

JACKIE ROBINSON

The first African American to play Major League Baseball in the modern era; broke the color barrier in 1947.

ROSA PARKS

Civil rights activist whose refusal to give up her bus seat to a white passenger in 1955 sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

LUNCH COUNTER SIT-INS

Nonviolent protests where Black students sat at segregated lunch counters and requested service, challenging segregation.

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.

Civil rights leader who advocated for nonviolent protest; known for his leadership during the Civil Rights Movement and his “I Have a Dream” speech.

CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL IN LITTLE ROCK, ARK.

The site where nine Black students (the "Little Rock Nine") integrated the school under federal protection in 1957.nine African American students who bravely integrated Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957. Despite facing intense resistance, including verbal and physical abuse and the deployment of the National Guard, they persevered, marking a pivotal moment in the Civil Rights Movement. 

GOVERNOR ORVAL FAUBUS

Arkansas governor who used the National Guard to block Black students from entering Central High School, defying federal law.

MONTGOMERY BUS BOYCOTT

A year-long boycott of the Montgomery, Alabama bus system by African Americans protesting segregated seating.

WHY DID THE BOYCOTT TAKE PLACE?

It was sparked by Rosa Parks’ arrest for refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger.

WHY WAS IT SUCCESSFUL?

It led to a Supreme Court ruling that segregation on public buses was unconstitutional, and it mobilized the national Civil Rights Movement.

WHO WAS EMMETT TILL?

A 14-year-old African American boy from Chicago.

WHAT DID EMMETT TILL DO?

Allegedly whistled at or flirted with a white woman in Mississippi in 1955.

WHAT HAPPENED TO EMMETT TILL?

He was kidnapped, brutally beaten, and murdered by white men.

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE ACCUSED MEN IN THE EMMETT TILL CASE?

They were acquitted by an all-white jury and later admitted to the crime in a magazine interview.

WHY WAS THE EMMETT TILL CASE IMPORTANT TO THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT?

His open-casket funeral and the publicity surrounding the case shocked the nation and galvanized support for the Civil Rights Movement.

SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference)

A civil rights organization founded by MLK and others that promoted nonviolent protest to advance civil rights.

SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee)

A youth-led civil rights group that organized sit-ins, Freedom Rides, and voter registration efforts.

SOUTHERN MANIFESTO

A document written by Southern lawmakers in 1956 opposing the Supreme Court’s ruling in Brown v. Board of Education.

MARCH ON WASHINGTON

A massive 1963 civil rights rally in Washington, D.C., where MLK delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech.

CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964

A landmark law that outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin in employment and public places.

FREEDOM SUMMER

A 1964 campaign to register African American voters in Mississippi, which faced violent resistance.

VOTING REGISTRATION DRIVES

Efforts during the Civil Rights Movement to register Black voters, especially in the South.

VOTING RIGHTS ACT 1965

Federal law that banned literacy tests and other discriminatory practices that denied African Americans the right to vote.

RACE RIOTS

Violent uprisings in urban areas during the 1960s often caused by racial tensions, police brutality, and economic inequality.

MINORITY SEPARATISM

The belief that minority groups, especially Black Americans, should separate from white society to preserve their culture and gain self-sufficiency.

BLACK POWER

A movement emphasizing racial pride, self-reliance, and equality for African Americans, often associated with more militant civil rights strategies.

NATION OF ISLAM

An African American religious and political group that promoted Black nationalism, self- sufficiency, and was associated with Malcolm X.

BUSING PROGRAMS

Policies that bused students to different school districts to achieve racial integration in public schools.

BLACK PANTHERS

A militant African American political organization founded in 1966 to challenge police brutality and promote Black self-defense and community programs.