Civil RIghts

  • Birmingham Campaign

    • A civil rights protest in Birmingham, Alabama, led by Martin Luther King Jr, to challenge segregation; it drew national attention due to police violence against peaceful protesters.

  • Executive Order 9981

    • A 1948 order by President Truman that desegregated the U.S. armed forces.

  • Stonewall Riot

    • A 1969 uprising at the Stonewall Inn in New York City, sparked by a police raid, marked a turning point for the LGBTQ+ rights movement.

  • Freedom Rides

    • Interracial civil rights activists rode buses into the segregated South in 1961 to test Supreme Court rulings banning segregation in interstate travel.

  • Civil Rights Act, 1964

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

  • Voting Rights Act, 1965

    • A federal law that banned literacy tests and other practices that suppressed Black voters, enforcing voting rights guaranteed by the 15th Amendment.

  • de jure segregation

    • Racial separation enforced by law, such as Jim Crow laws.

  • de facto segregation

    • Racial separation that occurs in practice or by custom, even if not legally required.

  • Title IX 

    • A 1972 law that bans sex-based discrimination in federally funded education programs and activities

  • Little Rock 9

    • Nine Black students who integrated Central High School in Arkansas in 1957, facing intense resistance and requiring federal protection.

  • Plessy v Ferguson, 1898

    • A Supreme Court case that upheld racial segregation under the "separate but equal" doctrine.

  • Brown v Board of Education, 1954

    • A Supreme Court decision that declared racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional, overturning Plessy v. Ferguson.

  • Shelby v Holder, 2013

    • A Supreme Court decision that struck down part of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, weakening federal oversight of voting laws in states with a history of discrimination.

  • Dobbs v Jackson, 2022

    • A Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade, allowing states to ban or restrict abortion access.

  • Jim Crow

    • A set of laws and customs that enforced racial segregation in the U.S. South from the late 1800s through the mid-1900s.

  • civil disobedience

    • Peacefully breaking unjust laws to protest and bring about social change, often used during the civil rights movement.

  • Sit-ins

    • Nonviolent protests where people occupy a space, like lunch counters, refusing to leave until they are served equally.

  • Boycotts

    • Refusals to buy or use goods and services as a form of protest, often used to challenge segregation or discrimination.

  • 24th Amendment

    • A 1964 constitutional amendment that banned poll taxes in federal elections.

  • Redlining

    • A discriminatory practice where banks and insurers refused services to residents of certain neighborhoods based on race or ethnicity.

  • Black Power

    • A movement in the 1960s and 70s emphasizing racial pride, economic empowerment, and the creation of Black political and cultural institutions.

  • Black Panthers

    • A revolutionary Black political organization founded in 1966 that advocated for self-defense and community programs to fight racial injustice.

  • La Raza Unida

    • A political party founded in the 1970s to promote Mexican American rights and political representation.

  • Cesar Chavez

    • A labor leader and civil rights activist who co-founded the United Farm Workers to improve conditions for farmworkers through nonviolent protest.

  • American Indian Movement (AIM)

    • A Native American advocacy group formed in 1968 to address issues like police brutality and promote tribal sovereignty.

  • Indian Self-Determination & Education Assistance Act, 1975

    • A law that gave tribes more control over their own education and programs previously run by the federal government.

  • Betty Friedan 

    • A feminist author whose book The Feminine Mystique (1963) sparked the modern women’s rights movement.

  • Emmett Till

    • A 14-year-old Black boy murdered in Mississippi in 1955, whose brutal killing helped spark the civil rights movement.

  • Harvey Milk

    • One of the first openly gay elected officials in the U.S., assassinated in 1978 while serving on San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors.

  • Montgomery Bus Boycott

    • A year-long protest starting in 1955 against bus segregation in Montgomery, Alabama, sparked by Rosa Parks’ arrest and led by Martin Luther King Jr.

  • Ed Roberts

    • Disability rights activist who led the independent living movement and fought for accessibility and inclusion.