Civil Rights Movement Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards related to the Civil Rights Movement in the U.S.

de jure segregation

Segregation that is enforced by law (e.g., Jim Crow laws in the South).

de facto segregation

Segregation that occurs in practice or by social custom, even if not legally enforced (e.g., segregated neighborhoods or schools due to housing patterns).

Thurgood Marshall

The first African American Supreme Court Justice, previously lead attorney for the NAACP, argued Brown v. Board of Education.

Earl Warren

Chief Justice of the Supreme Court during Brown v. Board of Education; his court issued the unanimous decision declaring school segregation unconstitutional.

Montgomery bus boycott

A protest campaign against racial segregation on the public transit system in Montgomery, Alabama, sparked by Rosa Parks’ arrest in 1955. It led to a Supreme Court ruling that segregation on public buses was unconstitutional.

sit-in

A form of protest where participants sit and refuse to move, commonly used at segregated lunch counters to demand equal service.

SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee)

An organization formed by students to coordinate nonviolent protests and give young African Americans a stronger voice in the civil rights movement.

freedom ride

Bus trips through the South by civil rights activists to test the enforcement of Supreme Court rulings banning segregation in interstate travel facilities.

March on Washington

A massive civil rights rally in Washington, D.C., in August 1963, where Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous I Have a Dream speech, advocating for civil and economic rights.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

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

Freedom Summer

A 1964 campaign in Mississippi to register African American voters, led by civil rights organizations, which drew national attention due to violence against volunteers.

Voting Rights Act (1965)

A law that banned literacy tests and other tactics that had been used to suppress African American voting and gave the federal government power to oversee voter registration.

Twenty-fourth Amendment

A constitutional amendment ratified in 1964 that banned the use of poll taxes in federal elections.

Malcolm X

A civil rights leader who advocated for black empowerment and self-defense, originally a minister of the Nation of Islam, later promoting global human rights before his assassination in 1965.

black power

A movement advocating racial pride, self-sufficiency, and equality for African Americans, sometimes associated with more militant approaches.

Black Panthers

A militant African American political organization founded in 1966 that advocated for self-defense and community programs to combat racial injustice and police brutality.

Feminism

The belief that women should have economic, political, and social equality with men.

Betty Friedan

Author of The Feminine Mystique, she helped ignite the second wave of feminism in the U.S. by challenging the traditional roles of women.

NOW (National Organization for Women)

Founded in 1966 to pursue feminist goals, such as better childcare facilities, improved educational opportunities, and an end to job discrimination.

ERA (Equal Rights Amendment)

A proposed amendment to the U.S. Constitution stating that civil rights may not be denied on the basis of sex. It passed Congress in 1972 but failed to be ratified by enough states.

Gloria Steinem

A prominent feminist, journalist, and activist who helped found Ms. magazine and was a key voice in the women's liberation movement.