1. Unit 12 Ms. Vela’s Humanities Class

2. Activist – a person who takes direct action to support a political cause Civil Rights – rights belonging to all citizens Point of View – an opinion, attitude, or judgment about an issue Segregation – to separate people according to race

4. Helped organize the American G.I. Forum Appointed to the United States Commission on Civil Rights by President Lyndon B. Johnson Accomplishments include: ▫Desegregating schools ▫Helped the disadvantaged overcome poverty in the “colonias”

5. Originally organized to improve Mexican American Veteran’s benefits and medical attention Helped end Mexican American discrimination Areas of work included: Ending Poll Tax Supporting the end of Public School Segregation Providing health care

6. Accomplishments include: ▫First Mexican American to serve in the Texas Senate  Helped outlaw racial segregation of public schools ▫First Mexican American to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives  Helped improve civil rights, housing, ownership of small businesses for Mexican Americans ▫Chairman of the JFK and Martin Luther King, Jr. murder investigations

7. Poll Tax – requires voters to pay $1.75 in order to vote Groups raised money to pay poll taxes for individuals who could not afford to. ▫Allowed for more minority groups to vote and have their voice heard. 1964 – President Johnson signs 24 th amendment ▫Prohibits paying a poll tax to vote in a federal election

8. Supreme Court case ▫Ended the elimination of Mexican Americans from the Texas jury system. VS

10. First African American woman to be elected to the Texas State Senate ▫Passed laws dealing with environment, labor issues, and discrimination in business contracts. First African American woman from a Southern State to serve on the U.S. Congress ▫Passed laws dealing with civil and women’s rights.

11. An interracial non violent organization created by James Farmer, Jr. Worked to end segregation and discrimination against African Americans and other minorities Organized “Freedom Rides” Attempt to bring awareness to forcing African Americans to sit in “Colored Only” sections.

12. Brown v. Board of Education ▫Ruled that public schools in the U.S. were to be desegregated.

13. Organization created to stop forced segregation and end race violence. ▫First established in Texas in 1915 (El Paso) ▫Lulu Bella Madison White - first president of the Houston chapter and then later Director of the State.  White aided in ending Jim Crow laws and fought for women’s suffrage.  Helped in advancing equal pay for equal work and desegregation of public facilities.

14. Heman Sweatt, an African American, sued the University of Texas. ▫Sweatt claimed, “Due to the equal protection in the 14 th amendment black students must be admitted to the all-white school if there were not any graduate or professional schools in that state for blacks.” ▫Supreme court ruled with Sweatt  Summer of 1950 African American students were able to enroll in graduate school at the University of Texas.

15. Signed by President Johnson ▫Declared that a citizen of the U.S. could not be denied the right to vote.  States could not use poll taxes, literacy tests, or any other type of restrictions to deny citizens their right to vote or to vote.