5

Question 1

Discrimination

Answer 1

The use of any unreasonable and unjust criterion of exclusion

Question 2

Civil rights

Answer 2

Obligation imposed on government to take positive action to protect citizens from any illegal action of government agencies and of other private citizens

Question 3

Equal protection clause

Answer 3

Provision of the 14th amendment guaranteeing citizens “the equal protection of the laws.” This clause has been the basis for the civil rights of African-Americans, women, and other groups

Question 4

13th amendment

Answer 4

One of three Civil War amendments; it abolished slavery

Question 5

14th amendment

Answer 5

One of three Civil War amendments; it guaranteed equal protection and due process

Question 6

15th amendment

Answer 6

Of three Civil War amendments; it guaranteed voting rights for African-American men

Question 7

Jim Crow laws

Answer 7

Laws enacted by Southern states following Reconstruction that discriminated against African-Americans

Question 8

“Separate but equal” rule

Answer 8

Doctrine that public accommodations could be segregated by race but still be considered equal

Question 9

Brown v. Board of Education

Answer 9

The 1954 Supreme Court decision that struck down the “separate but equal” doctrine as fundamentally unequal. This case eliminated state power to use race as a criterion of discrimination in law and provided the national government with the power to intervene by exercising strict regulatory policies against discriminatory actions

Question 10

Strict scrutiny

Answer 10

A test used by the Supreme Court in racial discrimination cases and other cases involving civil liberties and civil rights that places the burden of proof on the government rather than on the challengers to show that the law in question is constitutional

Question 11

De jure

Answer 11

Literally, “by law “; refers to legally enforced practices, such as school segregation in the South before the 1960s

Question 12

De facto

Answer 12

Literally, “by fact”; refers to practices that occur even when there is no legal enforcement, such as school segregation in much of the United States today

Question 13

Gerrymandering

Answer 13

The apportionment of voters in districts in such a way as to give unfair advantage to one racial or ethnic group or political party

Question 14

Redlining

Answer 14

A practice in which banks refuse to make loans to people living in certain geographic locations

Question 15

Intermediate scrutiny

Answer 15

A test used by the Supreme Court in gender discrimination cases that places the burden of proof partially on the government and partially on the challengers to show that the law in question is unconstitutional

Question 16

Affirmative action

Answer 16

Government policies or programs that seek to redress past injustices against specified groups by making special efforts to provide members of those groups with access to educational and employment opportunities