Civil Rights: The Fight for Equality in the 1960s

Vocabulary flashcards highlighting key people, organizations, events, and legislation from the 1960s Civil Rights Movement.

John F. Kennedy (JFK)

U.S. president (1961-1963) who verbally supported racial equality but initially avoided bold civil-rights action to keep Southern Democrats’ votes.

Robert F. Kennedy (RFK)

Attorney General who took a stronger public stance on civil rights than his brother, sending federal marshals to protect Freedom Riders and enforce desegregation orders.

Martin Luther King Jr.

Baptist minister and civil-rights leader (b.1929) who championed militant nonviolence, co-founded the SCLC, and delivered the “I Have a Dream” speech.

Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)

Organization founded by MLK in 1957 to coordinate nonviolent protest and advance civil-rights goals through Black churches.

Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)

Youth-led civil-rights group formed in 1960 that organized sit-ins and voter-registration drives; later embraced Black Power under Stokely Carmichael.

Militant Nonviolence

King’s strategy of confronting segregation with determined yet peaceful mass action to provoke moral response and federal intervention.

Sit-ins

1960 wave of nonviolent protests in which Black students occupied whites-only lunch counters, churches (kneel-ins), and pools (wade-ins).

Freedom Riders

Interracial activists sent by CORE in 1961 to test federal rulings against bus-segregation; faced violent attacks, prompting RFK to send marshals.

Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)

Civil-rights organization that pioneered Freedom Rides to challenge segregation in interstate travel.

James Meredith

First Black student to enroll at the University of Mississippi (1962) after RFK sent 500 marshals and National Guard troops to enforce his admission.

Ross Barnett

Segregationist Mississippi governor who tried to block James Meredith, claiming God created Blacks “different to punish him.”

Eugene “Bull” Connor

Birmingham police commissioner who used dogs, hoses, and cattle prods on demonstrators in 1963, shocking TV audiences nationwide.

Letter from Birmingham Jail

MLK’s 1963 manifesto urging federal action and justifying civil disobedience while imprisoned during Birmingham protests.

George Wallace

Alabama governor who attempted to prevent Black students from registering at the University of Alabama, prompting JFK to speak on civil-rights morality.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

Landmark federal law banning discrimination in public accommodations, employment, and education; first proposed by JFK, passed under LBJ.

March on Washington (1963)

Mass rally of 200,000 in Washington, D.C., where MLK delivered “I Have a Dream,” boosting national support for civil rights.

Selma to Montgomery March

1965 protest led by MLK against voter suppression; initial march was attacked (Bloody Sunday), but 35,000 completed it under federal protection.

Voting Rights Act of 1965

Federal law eliminating literacy tests, authorizing federal examiners, and guaranteeing Black voting rights; registered 250,000 new voters that year.

Watts Riots (1965)

Six-day uprising in a Los Angeles Black neighborhood that left 34 dead and signaled urban frustration despite civil-rights gains.

Race Riots of 1966-1967

Series of violent urban disturbances across U.S. cities reflecting anger over poverty and limited impact of rural-focused civil-rights reforms.

Black Power

1966 slogan promoting Black self-determination, pride, and sometimes militancy; resonated with urban youth disillusioned with nonviolence.

Stokely Carmichael

SNCC leader who popularized Black Power and expelled white members, later joining the Black Panthers.

H. Rap Brown

Militant successor to Carmichael at SNCC who urged armed resistance with phrases like “get you some guns.”

Black Panther Party

Radical organization advocating armed self-defense and community programs; its members adopted the Black Power salute.

Malcolm X

Former Nation of Islam spokesman who advocated militant self-defense, later moderated views; assassinated in 1965 by Black Muslim rivals.

Nation of Islam

Religious-political movement preaching Black separatism; Malcolm X was a prominent member from 1950-1964.

Organization of Afro-American Unity

Group founded by Malcolm X to link Black Americans’ struggle with global anti-colonial movements; site of his assassination.

Extremism and Militancy

Approach advocating immediate, sometimes violent, action for racial justice, contrasted with King’s nonviolent philosophy.

Legacy of Black Power

Movement energized cultural pride, promoted Black history, and pressured mainstream civil-rights leaders to address urban issues, though embraced by only ~15% of African Americans.

Assassination of MLK (1968)

King was fatally shot on April 4, 1968, in Memphis; James Earl Ray pleaded guilty, and nationwide riots followed.

“I’ve Been to the Mountaintop”

MLK’s final speech (April 3, 1968) expressing faith in the movement’s future despite threats to his life.

Federal Marshals

U.S. law-enforcement officers deployed by RFK to safeguard Freedom Riders and enforce desegregation orders at Ole Miss.

Conservative Southern Democrats

Political bloc that opposed civil-rights legislation, influencing JFK to proceed cautiously in early 1960s.

Urban vs. Rural Focus

Critique that early civil-rights strategies centered on Southern rural segregation, neglecting the 70% of Blacks in Northern and Western cities.

“Bull” Connor’s Television Impact

National broadcasting of Birmingham police brutality that swayed public opinion toward the civil-rights cause.