Dred Scott v. Sanford   The 1857 Supreme Court ruling that black Americans "are not included, and were not intended to be included, under the word ‘citizens' in the Constitution." It was reversed by the Fourteenth Amendment (1868) which made citizens of the freed slaves.

Jim Crow laws   Laws that were enacted by Southern whites in the late 19th century to segregate African Americans from whites.

Plessy v. Ferguson   A 1896 United States Supreme Court case which held that the principle of separate but equal public facilities for African American was constitutional. (A principle that was commonly referred to as the "separate but equal" doctrine).

grandfather clause   A provision in the law (passed by Oklahoma and other southern states) that permitted individuals to vote, even if legal requirements were NOT met, if the individuals or their ancestors voted prior to 1867.

"separate but equal"   A doctrine established by the Supreme Court in the 1896 case of Plessy v. Ferguson, which held that Jim Crow laws were constitutional.

de jure segregation  Segregation that is authorized by law

de facto segregation   Segregation that results from residential patterns rather than from laws.

Brown v. Board of Education (Brown I)   United States Supreme Court decision in 1954 which set aside its earlier precedent of Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), overturning the doctrine of "separate but equal."  The Court held that school segregation was inherently unequal.

Brown v. Board of Education (Brown II)   United States Supreme Court in 1955 decision which ordered lower courts to proceed with "all deliberate speed" to desegregate public schools.

Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)   An organization formed by the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1957 to fight for civil rights through non-violent change.

Civil Rights Act of 1964   Congressional act which made racial discrimination illegal in hotels, motels, restaurants, and other places of public accommodation. It also forbade many forms of job discrimination, and Congress cut off federal aid to schools that remained segregated. It also banned sex discrimination in employment by law.

Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenberg County Schools (1971)   United States Supreme Court decision which allowed court-ordered busing of students to achieve racially balanced schools. Taken as a whole, the Supreme Court has determined that the United States Constitution, as it relates to racial classifications by government, permits federal court orders that assign children to schools at least partly on a racial basis to compensate for past discrimination.

Smith v. Allwright (1944)   United States Supreme Court decision which held that primary elections are an integral part of the electoral process and thus, prohibiting blacks from full participation in primary elections violated the Fifteenth Amendment.

suffrage   The legal right to vote.

white primary   Mechanism designed to render African American votes ineffective. White primaries permitted political parties in the heavily Democratic south to exclude blacks from primary elections, on the pretext that political parties (and primaries) were private and not public institutions.

Voting Rights Act of 1965   Congressional act which prohibited any government from using voting procedures that denied a person the vote on the basis of race or color. As a result, black political participation in the South increased. It gave the federal government the power to appoint examiners in certain counties with low voter registration.

Korematsu v. United States (1944)   United States Supreme Court decision which upheld the constitutionality of the removal of Japanese Americans from the West coast and their placement in Japanese Internment Camps during World War II.

reservation  A area of land "reserved" for Native Americans use and held in trust by the federal government.

coverture   The legal doctrine that deprived married women of any identity separate from that of their husbands.

Equal Rights Amendment   A 1972 proposed constitutional amendment to the United States Constitution to eliminate discrimination against women. In 1982 it fell three states short of the thirty-eight necessary for ratification and was NEVER ratified.

women's liberation   A general term for the organized effort to end sex discrimination and assure women full equality.

National Organization for Women   A nationwide women's organization, founded in 1966, that has worked to improve employment opportunities for women, campaigned for the Equal Rights Amendment, defended the right of lesbians, and supported the reform of laws dealing with women.

National Women's Political Caucus   An organization, founded in 1971, emphasizing such political goals as the election and appointment of more women to public office, and the improvement of social conditions for minorities and the poor through legislation.

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)   Federal agency which is tasked with the responsibility of suing employers suspected of illegal discrimination.

Title IX (Education Act of 1972)   Congressional act which forbade sex discrimination in federally subsidized education programs, including athletics.

pro-life groups   Groups that have worked to overturn the 1973 Supreme Court ruling on abortion, often by supporting a constitutional amendment to prohibit abortions.

pro-choice groups   Groups that argue that women have the right to control their reproductive systems and to have abortions.

Hyde amendment   A controversial amendment sponsored by Representative Henry J. Hyde (R-IL) and passed by Congress in 1976, banning federal Medicaid payments for abortions, even those medically necessary, except in cases of rape or incest, or where the mother's life was "endangered." It was upheld by the Supreme Court in 1980.

gray liberation   Description given the movement involving the fight for the rights of the elderly.

Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (the ADA)   A congressional act which requires employers and public facilities to provide "reasonable accommodations, " and prohibits employment discrimination against the disabled.

homophobia   The fear and hatred toward gay men and lesbian women.

affirmative action programs   Programs established by government, universities, employers, and unions that give preference in admissions or jobs to minorities.

Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978)   United States Supreme Court decision which rejected a plan at the University of California at Davis that set aside 16 of a total of 100 places in the entering medical school class for "disadvantaged groups."  The Court upheld affirmative action programs, but limited their scope, and outlawed racial quota set-asides.

Adarand Constructors v. Pena (1995)   United States Supreme Court decision which changed the direction of affirmative action programs and began to curtail federal use of such programs. Adarand involved a case of reverse discrimination in the construction bid process for highway work in Colorado.

GOVT 2305  American Government and Politics
Cathedral High School, El Paso, Texas
Last updated:  August 2004