Civil Rights Movement Vocabulary

Flashcards for key terms and concepts related to the Civil Rights Movement.

COINTELPRO

A series of covert projects by the FBI to survey, infiltrate, and disrupt domestic political organizations, including civil rights groups.

Little Rock 9

Nine African American students who desegregated Little Rock Central High School in 1957, requiring federal troops for protection.

Black Panther Party

A Black nationalist and socialist organization founded in 1966, advocating for self-defense and community programs.

Disenfranchisement

The state of being deprived of a right or privilege, especially the right to vote, often referring to efforts to prevent African Americans from voting.

Women's Liberation Movement

A social movement advocating for equal rights and opportunities for women, challenging patriarchal norms and gender inequality.

Martin Luther King Jr.

A leader in the Civil Rights Movement known for nonviolent civil disobedience.

Civil Rights Act of 1957

Federal legislation aimed at protecting the right to vote.

Birmingham, Alabama

A key site of civil rights protests in 1963, met with violent suppression.

Poll Taxes

A fee required to register to vote, used to disenfranchise poor African Americans and some poor whites.

Feminism

The advocacy of women's rights on the basis of the equality of the sexes.

NAACP

A leading civil rights organization dedicated to ensuring equality and eliminating race-based discrimination.

Montgomery Bus Boycotts

A protest campaign against racial segregation on public transit in Montgomery, Alabama, sparked by Rosa Parks' arrest.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

A law that outlaws discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

Literacy Tests

Reading and writing tests formerly used to prevent African Americans from voting.

N.O.W. (National Organization for Women)

An American feminist organization founded in 1966, aiming to bring women into full participation in American society.

Thurgood Marshall

The first African American Supreme Court Justice and a key figure in the Civil Rights Movement.

Malcolm X

An African American Muslim minister and human rights activist who advocated for Black empowerment and separatism.

24th Amendment

Ratified in 1964, this amendment outlawed the poll tax in federal elections.

Grandfather Clauses

Clauses that exempted individuals from poll taxes and literacy tests if their ancestors had been eligible to vote before 1866 or 1867.

Title IX

A federal law passed in 1972 that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.

Brown v. Board of Education

A landmark 1954 Supreme Court case that declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students to be unconstitutional.

Black Pride/Power Movements

Movements in the 1960s and 1970s that emphasized racial pride, self-sufficiency, and the assertion of Black identity and political power.

Civil Rights Act of 1968

Also known as the Fair Housing Act, this law prohibited discrimination concerning the sale, rental, and financing of housing.

Selma March

Protest marches in 1965 from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, to advocate for voting rights for African Americans.

ERA (Equal Rights Amendment)

A proposed amendment to the United States Constitution designed to guarantee equal legal rights for all American citizens regardless of sex, which has never been ratified.

United Farm Workers (UFW)

A labor union founded by Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta in 1962, which sought to empower migrant farmworkers and improve their working conditions.

Immigration Act of 1965

Also known as the Hart-Celler Act, this law abolished the national origins quota system.

Cesar Chavez

An American labor leader and civil rights activist who co-founded the United Farm Workers.

Dolores Huerta

An American labor leader and civil rights activist who co-founded the United Farm Workers and was a key organizer and negotiator.

Chicano Youth Movement

A component of the broader Chicano Movement that focused on cultural nationalism, self-determination, and educational reform for Mexican American youth.

American Indian Movement (AIM)

A Native American advocacy group founded in 1968 to address systemic issues of poverty, discrimination, and police brutality.

Lyndon Johnson (LBJ)

The 36th President of the United States, who played a crucial role in passing landmark civil rights legislation.

The Great Society

A set of domestic programs in the United States launched by President Lyndon B. Johnson in the 1960s, with the main goals of eliminating poverty and racial injustice.

War on Poverty

Part of President Lyndon B. Johnson's Great Society initiative, a set of legislative programs designed to help impoverished Americans.

Economic Opportunity Act

A 1964 law that was the centerpiece of President Johnson's War on Poverty, establishing programs like the Job Corps, Head Start, and community action programs.

Head Start

A program established by the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, providing comprehensive early childhood education, health, nutrition, and parent involvement services to low-income children and their families.

Peace Corps

A volunteer program established by President John F. Kennedy in 1961, sending American volunteers to developing nations to assist with education, health, agriculture, and other areas.

New Frontier

The term used by John F. Kennedy in his acceptance speech in 1960 to describe his proposed domestic and foreign policy challenges.

JFK on Civil Rights

President John F. Kennedy increasingly advocated for civil rights legislation during his presidency.

Space Race

A 20th-century competition between the United States and the Soviet Union for supremacy in space flight capability.

1960 Election (JFK)

The presidential election where John F. Kennedy narrowly defeated Richard Nixon, notable for being the first U.S. presidential election to feature televised debates.