Chapter 28 Reading Flashcards
Jim Crow laws continued
to enforce strict separation of the races
de jure segregation
segregation that is imposed by law
de facto segregation
segregation by unwritten custom
Thurgood Marshall
African american lawyer; worked with civil rights organizations to challenge segregation
Brown v Board of Education
challenged segregated public education at all grade levels
Earl Warren
Chief Justice; wrote Brown decision in which the Supreme Court agreed that segregated public school violated the constitution
Brown decision overturned
the principle of “separate but equal”; lent support to the view that all forms of segregation were wrong
Little Rock, Arkansas
governor ordered the National Guard to block 9 African American students from entering high school; Eisenhower sent federal troops to protect the students and to enforce the court’s decision
civil rights act of 1957
established the US Civil Rights Commission; first civil rights bill passed by Congress since Reconstruction
Montgomery, Alabama
Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat to a white man; arrested; civil rights activist organized one-day bus boycott to express opposition to Park’s arrest
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr
Baptist minister; gave inspirational speech in which he called upon African Americans to protest segregation and oppression in a nonviolent manner
Montgomery bus boycott continued
for more than a year; MLK called upon African Americans to protest segregation and oppression in a nonviolent manner; revealed the power of African Americans could have if they joined together
Montgomery city
Supreme Court ruled a law that segregated buses was unconstitutional
North Carolina
4 college students started a sit-in to protest discrimination; sparked wave of similar protests across the nation
student nonviolence coordinating committee
SNCC: create a grass-roots movement to gain equality; young African American activists
interstate transportation
Supreme Court ruled that segregation in interstate busses was illegal
congress of racial equality
CORE; staged a “freedom ride” through the Deep South to test the federal government’s willingness to enforce the law ; after met with violence JFK intervened
James Meredith
won a federal case that allowed him to enroll in all-white University of Mississippi; Medgar Evers was instrumental in the process; graduate in 1963
southern christian leaders conference
SCLC; MLK targeted Birmingham, Alabama for a major civil rights campaign; began nonviolently with protest marches and sit-ins
Birmingham’s public safety commissioner
refused to tolerate the demonstrations in Birmingham ; used police dogs and fire hoses on the peaceful protesters ; news coverage shocked Americans
March on Washington
to put pressure on congress to pass a new civil rights bill supporters organized a massive demonstration; more than 200,000 Americans gathered; Aug 28, 1963; MLK gave his “I have a dream” speech
Nov 22, 1963
JFK was shot; LBJ assumed the presidency
civil rights act of 1964
LBJ used his political skills for the passage; banned segregation in public accommodations; produced a dramatic shift in race relations and set the stage for future reforms
freedom summer
SNCC mounted a major voter registration project; 1,000 volunteers flooded Mississippi to register African Americans to vote
Selma, Alabama
MLK and the SNCC organized a campaign to pressure the government to enact voting rights legislation; climaxed in a series of confrontations and heavily armed state troopers attacked the marchers.
voting rights act of 1965
banned literacy tests
24th amendment
banned the poll tax which had been used to prevent poor African Americans from voting
urban areas
anger over continuing discrimination and poverty erupted into violence and riots
Kerner Commission
concluded that long-term racial discrimination was the single most important cause of violence; determined the cause of the riots
Malcom X
most well-known African American radical; most prominent minister of the Nation of Islam, a religious sect that demanded separation of the races; assassinated in 1965
Stokely Carmiechal
thought African Americans should use their economic and political muscle which was “black power” to gain equality
black panther party
became the symbol of young militant African Americans
April 4, 1968
MLK was assassinated
fair housing act
banned discrimination in housing
