Civil Rights Movement: study guide with answers

Civil rights from Eisenhower to Civil Rights Act of 1968.

Discrimination

The unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people, especially on the grounds of ethnicity, age, sex, or disability.

Segregation

Separating people based on race.

De jure

Segregation that is legally enforced, meaning 'by law.'

De facto

Segregation encoded in our systems, occurring under the table.

Civil disobedience

The refusal to comply with certain laws or to pay taxes and fines as a peaceful form of political protest.

Black power

A movement that advocates for Black rights.

Black nationalism

A movement that seeks representation for Black people as a distinct national identity.

Reverse discrimination

A claim that affirmative action discriminates against white people.

Pay equity

The practice of paying employees equally for work of similar value, regardless of their race, gender, or other characteristics.

Affirmative Action

A policy of favoring individuals belonging to groups regarded as disadvantaged or subject to discrimination.

Martin Luther King Jr.

Civil rights leader who advocated for civil disobedience and non-violence; known for his 'I have a dream' speech.

Rosa Parks

Civil rights activist known for refusing to give up her seat on a bus, an act that sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

John Lewis

Civil rights activist and politician who was a leader of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and participated in the Freedom Rides.

Malcolm X

Civil rights leader who was a spokesperson for the Nation of Islam; known for advocating for self-defense and Black nationalism.

Huey Newton/Bobby Seale

Founders of the Black Panthers, which promoted armed self-defense against police brutality and community services.

Stokely Carmichael

Civil rights activist who advocated for Black power and self-sufficiency in the Black community.

James Meredith

First Black student to integrate the University of Mississippi in 1962.

President Truman

U.S. president who desegregated the armed forces with Executive Order 9981. Established the President’s Committee on Civil Rights. His campaign being pro-civil rights pushed away some of his Southern Democrat voters and helped to solidify the Democratic Party's commitment to civil rights.

President Eisenhower

U.S. president who tried to avoid the Civil Rights Movement but introduced some civil rights legislation, like passing Civil Rights Act 1957 and called in the 101st Airborne Division of US Army to protect Little Rock 9. escalated fear of nuclear fallout on the homefront. He tried to balance the budget, push social regulation, new Dept. of Health, education, welfare.

President Kennedy

U.S. president who supported the civil rights movement and mobilized the National Guard to protect Freedom Riders.

President Johnson

U.S. president who signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law by overcoming significant opposition. He also championed the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which aimed to eliminate barriers to voting for African Americans.

Black Panthers

A political organization that believed in armed self-defense against police brutality and provided community services like healthcare and legal assistance.

CORE

Congress of Racial Equality, a civil rights organization that used nonviolent direct action to fight segregation.

NAACP

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, an organization that works to end discrimination.

SNCC

Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, a civil rights organization focused on training students for peaceful protests.

SCLC

Southern Christian Leadership Conference, a civil rights organization founded by Martin Luther King Jr. that coordinated nonviolent protests.

Murder of Emmett Till

A brutal lynching of a 14-year-old boy in Money, Mississippi, in 1955 became a catalyst for the Civil Rights Movement.

Montgomery Bus Boycott

A protest against bus segregation sparked by Rosa Parks' arrest, lasted from 1955 to 1956. Got the Supreme Court to rule that Alabama’s bus segregation laws were unconstitutional.

Little Rock 9

The nine Black students who integrated Central High School in Arkansas in 1957 amid significant opposition and were protected by Eisenhower’s 101st Airborne Division.

Woolworth’s Sit In

A nonviolent protest at a segregated lunch counter in Greensboro, NC, that began on February 1, 1960. Started by 4 black students.

Freedom Rides

A series of bus trips through the American South to protest segregation in public transportation, initiated in 1961. Started in D.C. and ended in New Orleans.

Children’s March

A march in Birmingham, Alabama, which involved thousands of children protesting against segregation in 1963. Bull Connor used physical violence against the children.

March on Washington

A huge civil rights demonstration on August 28, 1963, demanding employment equality for Black Americans.

Freedom Summer

A 1964 campaign to increase voter registration and participation among African Americans in Mississippi. 3 workers were murdered by the KKK —> Mississippi Burning.

Selma

The site of historic protests in 1965 that led to the Voting Rights Act of 1965, including Bloody Sunday on the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

Watts Riots and Kerner Commission

A series of riots in Los Angeles in 1965 sparked by police brutality, representing widespread discontent in the Black community. This commission investigated the cause of the riots and concluded it was because of White violence and oppression towards Black people.

Plessy v. Ferguson

The 1896 Supreme Court decision that upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation under the 'separate but equal' doctrine.

Brown v. Topeka, Kansas Board of Education

The 1954 Supreme Court case that overturned Plessy v. Ferguson, ruling that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

Legislation that prohibited discrimination in public places and job discrimination, and required legal integration of schools and public facilities. Signed by Pres. Johnson.

Voting Rights Act of 1965

Legislation aimed at ending discriminatory voting practices and enforcing the 15th Amendment.

Civil Rights Act of 1968

Legislation that outlawed discrimination in housing based on race, religion, national origin, and sex. AKA Fair Housing Act. Signed by Pres. Johnson.

Memphis, Tennessee

The state where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated.

Kansas

The state where Linda Brown of Brown v. BOE was born.

Mississippi

The state where three Freedom Summer workers were killed by the KKK.

Alabama

The state where the Montgomery Bus Boycott occurred.

California

The state where the Watts Riots took place.

Mississippi

The state where James Meredith integrated a university.

Alabama

The state where Bloody Sunday occurred.

Washington, D.C.

Where the Freedom Riders started their journey.

Louisiana

The state that the Freedom Riders were trying to reach.

North Carolina

The state where the first sit-in happened at Woolworth’s lunch counter.