Civil Rights

Equal Protection Clause

14th amendment clause that prohibits states from denying equal protection under the law, and has been used to combat discrimination

Voting Rights Act of 1965

1965; invalidated the use of any test or device to deny the vote and authorized federal examiners to register voters in states that had disenfranchised blacks; as more blacks became politically active and elected black representatives, it brought jobs, contracts, and facilities and services for the black community, encouraging greater social equality and decreasing the wealth and education gap

Civil Rights Act of 1964

A federal law that authorized federal action against segregation in public accommodations, public facilities, and employment. The law was passed during a period of great strength for the civil rights movement, and President Lyndon Johnson persuaded many reluctant members of Congress to support the law.

Civil disobedience

A form of political participation that reflects a conscious decision to break a law believed to be immoral and to suffer the consequences.

Poll Tax

A tax of a fixed amount per person and payable as a requirement for the right to vote

The 14th Amendment

Intended to end the black codes, this amendment gave citizenship to former slaves and declared that all states must give all citizens equal protection under the law.

"separate but equal"

Principle upheld in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) in which the Supreme Court ruled that segregation of public facilities was legal.

Separate but equal

Principle upheld in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) in which the Supreme Court ruled that segregation of public facilities was legal.

De jure discrimination

Racial segregation that is required by law, Racial segregation that is a direct result of law or official policy

De facto discrimination

Segregation resulting from economic or social conditions or personal choice., discrimination that is the result not of law but rather of tradition and habit

Brown v. Board of Education, Topeka, KS, 1954

Supreme Court ruling reversing the policy of segregation from Plessy v Ferguson, declaring that separate can never be equal and a year later ordered the integration of all public schools with all deliberate speed

Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896

The Supreme Court case that upheld a Louisiana segregation law on the theory that as long as the accommodations between the racially segregated facilities were equal, the equal protection clause was not violated. The Court's ruling effectively established the constitutionality of racial segregation and the notion of "separate but equal."

The 13th Amendment

The first of the three Reconstruction Amendments adopted after the American Civil War. This amendment officially prohibited slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime.

The 15th Amendment

This allowed all MEN of any race or color to vote.

Jim Crow Laws

southern state laws designed to enforce segregation of blacks from whites (grandfather clause, poll tax, literacy tests, separate but equal, etc)