Chp. 5

Front 1

Affirmative action -

Back 1

government policies or programs that seek to redress past injustices against specified groups by making special efforts to provide members of these groups with access to educational and employment opportunities

Front 2

Brown v. Board of Education -

Back 2

the 1954 Supreme Court decision that struck down the "separate but equal" doctrine as fundamentally unequal. This case eliminated state power to use race as a criterion of discrimination in law and provided the national government with the power to intervene by exercising strict regulatory policies against discriminatory actions

Front 3

Civil rights-

Back 3

obligation imposed on government to take positive action to protect citizens from any illegal action of government agencies as well as of other private citizens

Front 4

De facto-

Back 4

literally, "by fact"; practices that occur even when there is no legal enforcement, such as school segregation in much of the United States today

Front 5

De jure-

Back 5

literally, "by law"; legally enforced practices, such as school segregation in the South before the 1960s

Front 6

Discrimination-

Back 6

use of any unreasonable and unjust criterion of exclusion

Front 7

Equal protection clause-

Back 7

provision of the Fourteenth Amendment guaranteeing citizens "the equal protection of the laws." This clause has been the basis for the civil rights of African Americans, women, and other groups

Front 8

Fifteenth Amendment-

Back 8

one of three Civil War amendments; guaranteed voting rights for African American men

Front 9

Fourteenth Amendment-

Back 9

one of three Civil War amendments; guaranteed equal protection and due process

Front 10

Gerrymandering-

Back 10

apportionment of voters in districts in such a way as to give unfair advantage to one racial or ethnic group or political party

Front 11

Intermediate scrutiny-

Back 11

test used by the Supreme Court in gender discrimination cases, which places the burden of proof partially on the government and partially on the challengers to show that the law in question is unconstitutional

Front 12

"Jim Crow" laws-

Back 12

laws enacted by southern states following Reconstruction that discriminated against African Americans

Front 13

Redlining-

Back 13

a practice in which banks refuse to make loans to people living in certain geographic locations

Front 14

"separate but equal" rule-

Back 14

doctrine that public accommodations could be segregated by race but still be equal

Front 15

Strict scrutiny-

Back 15

test used by the Supreme Court in racial discrimination cases and other cases involving civil liberties and civil rights, which places the burden of proof on the government rather than on the challengers to show that the law in question is constitutional

Front 16

Thirteenth Amendment-

Back 16

one of three Civil War amendments; abolished slavery