Chapter 5 Flashcards
Civil rights
Policies designed to protect people against arbitrary or discriminatory treatment by government officials or individuals.
Civil rights act of 1964
The law making racial discrimination in public accommodations illegal. It forbade many forms of job discrimination.
It also strengthened voting rights.
Poll taxes
Small taxes levied on the right to vote.
Poll taxes were used by most Southern states to exclude African Americans from voting.
White primary
Primary elections from which Atrican Americans were excluded, an exclusion that, in the heavily Democratic South, deprived African Americans of a voice in the real contests. The Supreme Court declared white primaries unconstitutional in 1944.
Voting rights of 1965
A law designed to help end formal and informal barriers to African American suffrage. Under the law, hundreds of thousands of African Americans registered to vote, and the number of African American elected officials increased dramatically.
Americans with disabilities act of 1990
A law passed in 1990 that requires employers and public facilities to make
“reasonable accommodations” for people with disabilities and prohibits discrimination against these individuals in employment.
Affirmative action
A policy designed to give special attention to or compensatory treatment for members of some previously disadvantaged group.