Untitled Flashcards Set

• Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka: 1954 Supreme Court case that declared racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional, overturning Plessy v. Ferguson.

• 24th Amendment: Ratified in 1964; prohibited poll taxes in federal elections, helping to eliminate barriers to Black voting rights.

• Civil Rights Act, 1964: Landmark legislation that outlawed segregation in public places and banned employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

• Voting Rights Act, 1965: Banned discriminatory voting practices like literacy tests and authorized federal oversight in areas with a history of voter suppression.

Key Individuals

• Thurgood Marshall: NAACP attorney who argued Brown v. Board; later became the first African American Supreme Court Justice.

• Rosa Parks: Civil rights activist who refused to give up her bus seat to a white man in Montgomery, Alabama, sparking the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

• Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: Leader of the Civil Rights Movement known for nonviolent protest and his “I Have a Dream” speech.

• Malcolm X: Civil rights leader and spokesperson for the Nation of Islam who advocated for Black empowerment and self-defense.

• Stokely Carmichael: SNCC leader who popularized the phrase "Black Power" and pushed for more militant strategies.

• Angela Davis: Scholar, activist, and member of the Black Panther Party known for her advocacy for prisoners’ rights and racial justice.

• James Meredith: First African American student to integrate the University of Mississippi in 1962, protected by federal forces.

• George Wallace: Segregationist Alabama governor who famously declared “segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.”

• Medgar Evers: NAACP field secretary in Mississippi assassinated in 1963 for his civil rights work.

• Bull Connor: Birmingham police commissioner known for violently suppressing civil rights protests with fire hoses and police dogs.

• Barry Goldwater: Conservative senator and 1964 presidential candidate who opposed the Civil Rights Act on constitutional grounds.

• Lyndon B. Johnson’s “Great Society”: A set of domestic programs launched in the 1960s aimed at eliminating poverty and racial injustice.

Major Events and Movements

• “Southern Manifesto”: 1956 document signed by Southern congressmen opposing racial integration of public places following Brown v. Board.

• Little Rock Central High School/Little Rock 9: A group of Black students who integrated the school in 1957 amid a federal showdown with Arkansas’ governor.

• Montgomery Bus Boycott: Year-long protest (1955–56) against segregated buses, sparked by Rosa Parks and led by Dr. King.

• Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC): Organization founded by Dr. King and others to coordinate nonviolent protests.

• SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee): Youth-led civil rights group that organized sit-ins, freedom rides, and voter registration drives.

• Lunch counter sit-ins: Nonviolent protests by Black students to desegregate lunch counters in the South, starting in Greensboro, NC, in 1960.

• Project C (“Confrontation”): 1963 campaign in Birmingham by SCLC using nonviolent protests to provoke mass arrests and public attention.

• “Letter From Birmingham Jail”: Dr. King’s defense of nonviolent resistance to racism, written in response to criticism from white clergy.

• March on Washington, 1963: Massive civil rights rally where Dr. King delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech advocating for racial justice.

• “I Have a Dream” Speech: Dr. King’s iconic speech during the March on Washington envisioning a racially integrated and just America.

• Freedom Summer: 1964 campaign to register Black voters in Mississippi, led by SNCC, CORE, and other groups, met with violent resistance.

• March from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama: 1965 protest marches for voting rights; “Bloody Sunday” saw peaceful marchers attacked by police.

• Black Power Movement: Emphasized racial pride, economic empowerment, and self-determination for African Americans.

• Black Muslims: Refers mainly to the Nation of Islam, a religious group advocating for Black separation and empowerment.

• Black Panthers/Bobby Seale & Huey P. Newton: Founded the Black Panther Party in 1966 to combat police brutality and promote Black self-defense and social programs.

• War on Poverty: Part of Johnson’s “Great Society”; included programs like Head Start, Me