Civil Rights Vocab Chapter 20

De Jure Segregation Segregation based on the law Practiced in the South (Jim Crow Laws)

De Facto Segregation Segregation by tradition, practice, or custom. Practiced in the North

Thurgood Marshall African American lawyer who headed the legal team that argued the Brown case. Served on the US Supreme Court from

Brown v. BOE 1954 Supreme Court ruled that segregation of schools was unconstitutional. Overturned the decision in Plessy v. Ferguson

Rosa Parks/ Montgomery Bus Boycott Rosa Parks challenged segregation of public transportation by refusing to give up her seat on a public bus. This began a boycott of the public transportation system in Montgomery that lasted over a year. December, Supreme Court ruled that Alabama’s laws requiring segregation of busses unconstitutional.

SCLC Southern Christian Leadership Conference Civil Rights group established by Dr. King in Set out to eliminate segregation from American society and to encourage African Americans to register to vote using non-violent resistance.

Sit-in A form of civil disobedience used to challenge segregation in the South. Protesters sit and refuse to move.

SNCC Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee. Grassroots movement formed in 1960 by young civil rights activists. Made up mostly of college students. (John Lewis)

Freedom Ride Teams of African-Americans and whites who traveled into the south on busses challenging segregation laws and drawing attention to the South’s refusal to integrate bus terminals. Freedom Riders faced extreme violence in the South.

March on Washington 1963 demonstration in which more than 200,000 people rallied for economic equality and civil rights. Location of Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” Speech.

Civil Rights Act of 1964 Outlawed discrimination in public places and employment based on race, religion, or national origin.

Freedom Summer 1964 effort to register African American voters in Mississippi.

Voting Rights Act of 1965 A law that banned literacy tests and empowered the federal government to oversee voter registration.

24 th Amendment Banned poll taxes as a voting requirement.

Kerner Commission Group set up to investigate the causes of race riots in American cities in the 1960s. Concluded that the single most important cause of violence was long-term racial discrimination.

Malcolm X Well known leader of the black power movement. Joined the Black Muslims, who viewed themselves as their own nation (tried to be as economically sufficient as possible.) Did not advocate violence, but did advocate self-defense.

Black Power Movement in the 1960s that urged African Americans to use their collective political and economic power to gain equality. Stokely Carmichael

Black Panthers Organization of militant African Americans founded in Organized armed patrols of urban neighborhood to protect blacks from police violence as well as anti-poverty programs.