[APUSH 2] Civil Rights Vocabulary

Peace Corps

volunteer organization created by Kennedy that helped countries in the developing world and spread democracy

• Send Americans to 3rd world countries to help them with easy utilities

• Makes Americans more likable and makes other countries nicer to the United States

• This still exists today

Great Society

LBJ’s war on poverty that created the modern “welfare” state.

• Welfare: financial support from the government (housing, food stamps, etc.)

• Tea Party Republicans: wanted the government to act more responsibly and spend less money (these Republicans are now a part of MAGA)

Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA)

helps intercities and world neighborhoods with basic services similar to Peace Corps

• Works specifically with Natives and rural cities

Medicare

government-sponsored health insurance for the elderly

• You pay 1.5% of your paycheck to Medicare

• Medicare patients have decreased costs for medical expenses

Medicaid

government-sponsored health insurance for the poor

• Issue: The states determine who’s poor

• Federal government gives the state a certain amount of money, and they determine who gets the money

• Most money in Medicaid goes to children

Housing and Urban Development (HUD)

created low-income housing in inner cities during the 1960s that was also known as “The Projects”

• The government chops an apartment building into units. Each unit is classified with a letter. The person in unit A is the poorest and pays the most for rent, and the person in unit D just barely makes it into the project and pays the most rent.

• Police don’t respond to police calls in the projects.

Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)

civil rights group led by MLK that was organized through the Black church

• Dr. King’s message, “Civil Rights through nonviolence.”

• Made up of a lot of older Black women

• Willing to sacrifice themselves for the next generation

Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)

civil rights group organized through colleges. Later breaks apart and helps start the Black Panthers.

• Mainly baby boomer college kids (around 20 years old)

• Students of SNCC get tired of getting beaten up and break away, creating the Black Panthers

• Black Panther’s Message: “We have been nonviolent for years, and it brought us racism and segregation. No more.”

• Fighting for themselves

Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)

civil rights group that was majority white during the era

Freedom Rides

bus rides in the summer of 1961 throughout the South to promote desegregation in interstate commerce

• CORE puts together the freedom riders, most of whom are white.

• They start in Virginia and hope to get to New Orleans.

• By the time they get to Alabama, RFK is calling to tell the governor to protect the buses

March on Washington

civil rights rally where MLK made his “I Have a Dream” speech on August 28, 1963

• Estimated 250,000-400,000 crowd

• The Gettysburg Address was the other most famous speech in American history

Freedom Summer

refers to the summer of 1964, when 3 Civil Rights workers were murdered in Mississippi

• Becomes the biggest story in America for the summer

• 3 guys (2 white guys, one black guy) get pulled over by the cops (2 white guys in the front, 1 black guy in the back)

• Nothing happens for a while, but then the Klan pulls up in vans

• 2 guys get shot in the face, the guy in the back escapes to a field, but is still murdered

Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965

landmark Civil Rights legislation that ends segregation, makes it illegal to prevent voting, and makes discrimination illegal

• Civil Rights Act of 1964: Makes discrimination illegal

• Voting Rights Act of 1965: Illegal to prevent voting through getting rid of “state tests”

Malcolm X

civil rights leader who led the nation of Islam and believed in civil rights by any means

• Born Malcolm Little from Brooklyn

• People used to call him Red because he used to dye his hair that color

• Small-time criminal who drank and smoked a lot

• Turns 2 athletes toward the Civil Rights movement: Muhammad Ali

• Murdered in New York by some of the people in the Nation of Islam

Muhammad Ali

heavyweight champion in the 1960s and 1970s. Became a Civil Rights icon for refusing the Vietnam draft

• He was born Cassius Clay

• March 1971: Muhammad Ali vs Joe Frazier

Selma, Alabama

site of 3 Civil Rights marches in 1965, where only the 3rd was successful

• The SCLC organized a march from Selma to Birmingham

• The permit they got only gives the ability to march in the county

• 1st March: Only locals. They cross the county bridge, and the police show up to beat and arrest them

• 2nd March: MLK shows up to lead the march. They start going over the bridge but he stops it half-way because a court order was filed against the march

• 3rd March: MLK calls LBJ and he sends the Alabama state guard to protect the marchers

National Organization of Women (NOW)

civil rights group for women that organized around abortion rights and equal pay

Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)

Supreme Court Case that says the court must provide you with an attorney if you can’t afford one

• Clarence Gideon: small-time crook that’s been in and out of jail and is illiterate

• Gideon is guilty of robbing a vending machine in 1963, but claims he isn’t guilty

• Gideon asks for a lawyer, but the judge says no because according to Florida law, lawyers were only given to people for certain cases, not all

• Gideon & his friend in jail sends a letter to the Supreme Court explaining the situation, and one of the judges take up the case (extremely unlikely for this to happen)

• It is established that all people have the right to a lawyer, regardless of the state you’re in

Miranda v. Arizona (1966)

Supreme Court Case where the court rules police must read you your rights at the time of arrest

• Named after Ernesto Miranda, who was accused of rape

• Miranda confessed, as he thought that he was required to answer the police

• Case was overturned, but a second trial was held, where Miranda was found guilty solely based on evidence, not including his confession

• Miranda Rights

  • You have the right to remain silent

  • Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law

  • You have the right to talk to a lawyer and have them present with you while you are being questioned

  • If you can’t afford a lawyer, one will be appointed to represent you before any questioning if you wish

  • You can decide at any time to exercise these rights and not answer any questions or make any statements

Griswold v. Connecticut (1965)

Supreme Court Case that says people have a right to privacy

• Connecticut Law in 1840s says that no one can help married people use contraceptives

  • Nothing illegal about contraception, but when involved with married couples it was illegal to use

• Planned Parenthood is distributing contraceptives to people

• Griswold’s case is that the law is violating the right to privacy

• Connecticut argues that right to privacy is not stated in Constitution

Roe v. Wade (1972)

Supreme Court Case that said because women have the right to privacy, states may not restrict abortion in the first two trimesters

• Sets up a whole new way to look at pregnancy (40-week period)

  • 1st Trimester: 0-13 Weeks

  • 2nd Trimester: 13-26 Weeks

  • 3rd Trimester: 26-40 Weeks

• Roe v. Wade is NOT a blanket right to abortions

• Overturned in 2022

Earl Warren

Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in the 1950s & 60s who expanded civil rights

• Brown, Gideon, Miranda, and Griswold are cases made by Warren

• Roe v. Wade wasn’t made by Warren (he retired prior to this case), but his influence reasonably affected this decision

Activist Judges

any judge who makes laws from the bench

Affirmative Action

system of hiring that gives minority candidates preference over equally or slightly more qualified white candidates (DEI)

University of California v. Bakke

Supreme Court Case that says racial quotas are unconstitutional, but colleges may use race in admissions that was overturned in 2023

• Bakke is a white guy that was more qualified than most applicants, but was rejected due to the racial quota for white people already being met

• Quotas are unconstitutional because it discriminates against people

• In 2023 this case got overturned as the University of North Carolina & Harvard got sued by Asian students

• Court claims that diversity is important, and 2 things that you may use to still achieve diversity is through their college essays, and through socioeconomic status

Conservative

political ideology that favors a small federal government and traditional social values

Liberal

political ideology that favors a strong central government and modern social values

Barry Goldwater

lost to Johnson in 1964 and started the conservative revolution in the United States

• Didn’t just lose, he got ABSOLUTELY DESTROYED by Johnson

• This movement propels Reagan to his presidency

• Split in Republican Party

  • Nixon v. Goldwater (opposite ends of Republican spectrum)