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5.7: Key Terms

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    153884
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    affirmative action
    the use of programs and policies designed to assist groups that have historically been subject to discrimination
    American Indian Movement (AIM)
    the Native American civil rights group responsible for the occupation of Wounded Knee, South Dakota, in 1973
    Black codes
    laws passed immediately after the Civil War that discriminated against freed people and other African Americans and deprived them of their rights
    Brown v. Board of Education
    the 1954 Supreme Court ruling that struck down Plessy v. Ferguson and declared segregation and “separate but equal” to be unconstitutional in public education
    Chicano
    a term adopted by some Mexican American civil rights activists to describe themselves and those like them
    civil disobedience
    an action taken in violation of the letter of the law to demonstrate that the law is unjust
    comparable worth
    a doctrine calling for the same pay for workers whose jobs require the same level of education, responsibility, training, or working conditions
    coverture
    a legal status of married women in which their separate legal identities were erased
    de facto segregation
    segregation that results from the private choices of individuals
    de jure segregation
    segregation that results from government discrimination
    direct action
    civil rights campaigns that directly confronted segregationist practices through public demonstrations
    disenfranchisement
    the revocation of someone’s right to vote
    equal protection clause
    a provision of the Fourteenth Amendment that requires the states to treat all residents equally under the law
    Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)
    the proposed amendment to the Constitution that would have prohibited all discrimination based on sex
    glass ceiling
    an invisible barrier caused by discrimination that prevents women from rising to the highest levels of an organization—including corporations, governments, academic institutions, and religious organizations
    grandfather clause
    the provision in some southern states that allowed illiterate White people to vote because their ancestors had been able to vote before the Fifteenth Amendment was ratified
    hate crime
    harassment, bullying, or other criminal acts directed against someone because of bias against that person’s sex, gender, sexual orientation, religion, race, ethnicity, or disability
    intermediate scrutiny
    the standard used by the courts to decide cases of discrimination based on gender and sex; burden of proof is on the government to demonstrate an important governmental interest is at stake in treating men differently from women
    Jim Crow laws
    state and local laws that promoted racial segregation and undermined Black voting rights in the south after Reconstruction
    literacy tests
    tests that required the prospective voter in some states to be able to read a passage of text and answer questions about it; often used as a way to disenfranchise racial or ethnic minorities
    Plessy v. Ferguson
    the 1896 Supreme Court ruling that allowed “separate but equal” racial segregation under the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment
    poll tax
    annual tax imposed by some states before a person was allowed to vote
    rational basis test
    the standard used by the courts to decide most forms of discrimination; the burden of proof is on those challenging the law or action to demonstrate there is no good reason for treating them differently from other citizens
    Reconstruction
    the period from 1865 to 1877 during which the governments of Confederate states were reorganized prior to being readmitted to the Union
    Stonewall Inn
    a bar in Greenwich Village, New York, where the modern Gay Pride movement began after rioters protested the police treatment of the LGBTQ community there
    strict scrutiny
    the standard used by the courts to decide cases of discrimination based on race, ethnicity, national origin, or religion; burden of proof is on the government to demonstrate a compelling governmental interest is at stake and no alternative means are available to accomplish its goals
    Title IX
    the section of the U.S. Education Amendments of 1972 that prohibits discrimination in education on the basis of sex
    Trail of Tears
    the name given to the forced migration of the Cherokees from Georgia to Oklahoma in 1838–1839
    understanding tests
    tests requiring prospective voters in some states to be able to explain the meaning of a passage of text or to answer questions related to citizenship; often used as a way to disenfranchise Black voters
    white primary
    a primary election in which only White people are allowed to vote

    5.7: Key Terms is shared under a not declared license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

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