Chapter 15:Civil Rights Movement

Key Vocabulary Rosa Parks – defied segregation by refusing

to give up her seat on a bus Thurgood Marshall – lawyer that fought

against segregation in public schools Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka,

Kansas – segregation in public schools in unconstitutional

Montgomery bus boycott – African Americans boycott buses because of Rosa Parks' arrest

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. - leader of the African American civil rights movement

SCLC – (Southern Christian Leadership Conference) this group helped organize civil rights protests

Sit-in – a protest where people refuse to move until their demands are met

SNCC – (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) a group of young people that helped the civil rights movement

CORE – (Congress of Racial Equality) tried to gain equal rights for nonwhites

John F. Kennedy – elected in 1960, President Kennedy arranged for MLK, Jr.'s release after he was arrested during a protest

March on Washington – 250,000 people gathered at the Lincoln Memorial to protest, where MLK, Jr. made his “I have a dream” speech

Civil Rights Act of 1964 – a law that banned segregation in public places (hotels, restaurants, theaters)

Freedom Summer – summer of 1964, the SNCC organized a voter registration drive to get African Americans ready to vote

Voting Rights Act – banned literacy tests and other laws that prevented African Americans from voting

Lyndon B. Johnson – became president after Kennedy was assassinated, he wanted the United States to become a “great society”

Great Society – President Johnson's plan to end discrimination, promote education, and protect the environment

Malcolm X – part of the Nation of Islam, also a Civil Rights leader but one that promoted violent protests (instead of nonviolent like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.)

Cesar Chavez – born in Yuma, Arizona, migrant farm worker in the 1940s – he started a farm workers union called La Raza Unida and led many strikes and won equal rights for Mexican Americans

National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) – forced the federal gov't to keep protective laws in place and promote the “common welfare” of Native Americans

American Indian Movement (AIM) – an aggressive group that fought for Native American rights that would allow for self government and control on reservations

Betty Freidan – author of The Feminine Mystique described problems and inequality faced by women and their own struggle for equal rights

National Organization for Women (NOW) – an organization that helped women find jobs and earn equal pay for their work

Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) – in 1972, Congress suggested a law that would ensure women had equality in the workplace, but not enough states voted for it

Video Clips – Civil Rights Era Little Rock Nine – 9 African American students

attend the first desegregated school Martin Luther King, Jr. “I Have a Dream Speech” -

inspiring speech after March on Washington in 1963 Malcolm X Interview – TV interview Martin Luther King, Jr. “Last Speech” - last speech

given, assassinated the next day Martin Luther King, Jr. Assassination - breaking

news report Martin Luther King, Jr. Assassination – crimes of the

century report