Chapter 5: Civil Rights Flashcards
Equality
as a political value, the idea that all people are of equal worth
Civil Rights
Generally, all rights are rooted in the Fourteenth Amendment’s guarantee of equal protection under the law
The Civil Right Movement
The nonviolent protest during the 1950s-1960s where broke the pattern of public facilities’ being segregated by “race” in the South and achieved the most important breakthrough in equal-rights legislation for African Americans
Plessy v. Ferguson
Homer Plessy wanted to board the white train in New Orleans but was denied and told to go in the black train. Plessy argued that his 14th amendment was broken but the court found that so long as the state had equal facilities, desperation was not breaking any rights.
Separate, But Equal Doctrine
the doctrine holding that separate-but-equal facilities do not violate the equal protect clause of the 14th Amendment in the U.S Constitution
Jim Crows Laws
Jim Crow was an insulting term for African Americans. These law required separate drinking fountains, seats in theaters, restaurants, hotels, public toilets, and even waiting rooms. Separate was indeed the rule but equal was never enforced or a reality
Literacy Tests
a test administered as a precondition for voting, often used to prevent African Americans from exercising their right to vote
White Primary
a state primary election that restricted voting to whites only. It was outlawed by the Supreme Court in 1944
Grandfather Clause
a device used by southern states to disenfranchise African Americans. It restricted voting to those whose grandfathers had voted before 1867
Poll Tax
a special tax that had to be paid as a qualification for voting. In 1964, the 24th Amendment outlawed the poll tax in national elections, and in 1966 the Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional in state elections as well
Brown v Board of Education
Oliver Brown argued that his daughter shouldn’t have to got to a black school farther from their home when there was a white school much closer. National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) supported this and fought against the Board of Education. 1954 Supreme Court unanimously decided that this did violate the 14th amendment and thus broke the separate but equal doctrine
Baker v. Carr
Baker v. Carr is the first of the cases developing the Supreme Court’s “one person, one vote” legislation. This line of cases helped equalize representation between country and city dwellers in an increasingly urbanized nation.
Reynolds v. Sims
Reynolds v. Sims establishes the principle apportionment doctrine of the United States Constitution (Constitution): one-person, one-vote. The Supreme Court gets around the non-justiciability of political questions by framing the argument as an Equal Protection issue: “To the extent that a citizen’s right to vote is debased, he is that much less a citizen.”
