Civil Rights
All rights rooted in the Fourteenth Amendment's guarantee of equal protection under the law
Black Codes
Laws Passed by Southern States immediately after the Civil War denying most legal rights to freed slaves
Jim Crow Laws
Laws enacted by Southern states that enforced segregation in schools, on transportation, and in public accommodations
Separate-but-Equal Doctrine
The 1896 doctrine holding that separate-but-equal facilities do not violate the equal protection clause
White Primary
A state primary election that restricts voting whites only; 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 must be paid as a qualification for voting. The Twenty-fourth Amendment to the Constitution outlawed the poll tax in national elections, and in 1966, the Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional in all elections
Literacy Test
A test administered as a precondition for voting, often used to prevent African Americans from exercising their right to vote
De Facto Segregation
Racial Segregation that occurs because of past social and economic conditions and residential racial problems
De Jure Segregation
Racial segregation that occurs because of laws or administrative decisions by public agencies
Busing
In the context of civil rights, the transportation of public school students from areas where they live to schools in other areas to eliminate school segregation based on residential racial patterns
Civil Disobedience
A nonviolent, public refusal to obey allegedly unjust laws
Subpoena
A legal writ requiring a person's appearance in court to give testimony
Suffrage
The right to vote;the franchise
Feminism
The philosophy of political, economic, and social equality for women and the gender consciousness sufficient to mobilize women for change
Gender Discrimination
Any practice, policy, or procedure that denies equality of treatment to an individual or to a group because of gender
Sexual Harrassment
Unwanted physical or verbal conduct or abuse of a sexual nature that interferes with a recipient's job performance, creates a hostile work environment, or carries with it an implicit or explicit threat of adverse employment consequences
Affirmative Action
A policy in educational admissions or job hiring that gives special attention or compensatory treatment to traditionally disadvantaged groups in an effort to overcome present effects of past discrimination
Reverse Discrimination
The charge that an affirmative action program discriminates against those who do not have minority status
Reparation
Compensation, monetary or nonmonetary, to make amends for a past transgression or harm
Hate Crime
A criminal offense committed against a person or property that is motivated, in-whole or in-part, by the offender's bias against a race, color, ethnicity, national origin, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, disability, age or religion