Civil Rights

Protections for individuals from discrimination based on race, national origin, religion, sex, and other characteristics, ensuring equal treatment under the law.

504 Sit-Ins

Protests that pushed the government to enforce disability rights law.

Dred Scott v. Sanford

Case that ruled enslaved people were not citizens and has no legal rights under the constitution.

Americans with Disabilities Act

A law that bans discrimination against people with disabilities and requires equal access to public places and jobs.

13th Amendment

An Amendment to prohibit slavery within the United States.

14th Amendment

Guaranteed citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the U.S. and prohibited states from denying due process.

Equal Protection Clause

Clause of the 14th amendment that has been used to protect the civil rights of Americans.

15th Amendment

An Amendment that granted Voting rights to African American men.

Plessy v. Ferguson

Case that allowed racial segregation by saying separate but equal was legal.

Separate but Equal

The idea that segregation was constitutional as long as the facilities for blacks and whites were equal.

NAACP

A organization that fights for equality and legal rights for Black Americans.

Thurgood Marshal

A lawyer who helped end school segregation and became the first black U.S. Supreme Court Justice.

Kenneth Clark

A psychologist whose research on segregation helped inspire the Brown v. Board of Education decision.

Brown v Boarder of Education

Case that declared racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional.

Earl Warren

A chief justice who led the Supreme court in landmark civil rights and desegregation decisions.

Brown v. Boarder of Education 2

Follow-up case that ordered schools to desegregate with deliberate speed.

Dejure Segregation

The separation of individuals based on their characteristics, such as race by law

Defacto Segregation

A separation of individuals based on characteristics that arises not by law but because of other factors, such as residential housing patterns.

Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg

Case that approved using busing to racially integrate schools.

Affirmative Action

A policy designed to address the consequences of previous discrimination by providing special consideration to individuals based upon their characteristics, such as race or gender.

Social Movement

Large groups of citizens organizing for political change.

Civil Disobedience

The intentional refusal to obey a law to call attention to its injustics

Letter from a Birmingham Jail

Letter by Martin Luther King Jr. defending nonviolence protests against racial injustice.

Southern Christian Leadership Conference

Civil rights organization led by Martin Luther king Jr. that organized nonviolent protests to end segregation.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

Legislation that outlawing racial segregation in schools and public places.

Voting Rights Act of 1965

Legislation outlawed discriminatory voting practices, such as literacy tests used to prevent African Americans from voting.

19th Amendment

Granting women the rights to vote.

Tile IX

legislation prohibiting sex discrimination in schools receiving federal aid, increasing female participation in sports.

Strict Scrutiny Standard

A high level of judicial review used to determine if a law is constitutional involving race discrimination.

Rational-Bases Standard

A low level of judicial review used to determine if a law is constitutional involving differential treatment.

Intermediate Scrutiny

A median level of judicial review used to determine if a law is constitutional involving gender discrimination.