The nature of discrimination in the US, 1954–1965
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Question
What were Jim Crow laws?
Answer
Southern state laws (roughly 1877–1965) that forced racial segregation in schools, transport and public spaces.
Question
Define discrimination.
Answer
Treating a group unfairly because of their race, religion or another feature.
Question
Define segregation.
Answer
Keeping racial groups apart, either by law or by social custom.
Question
What did Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) decide?
Answer
That segregation was legal as long as facilities were 'separate but equal' — even though they rarely were.
Question
What did Brown v. Board of Education (1954) decide?
Answer
That segregated public schools were unconstitutional, overturning the 'separate but equal' idea.
Question
What is disenfranchisement, and how was it done in the South?
Answer
Blocking a group's right to vote. In the South it was done with literacy tests and a poll tax.
Question
Who was Emmett Till?
Answer
A 14-year-old Black boy murdered in Mississippi in 1955; his killers were acquitted, exposing racial violence.
Question
What was the Ku Klux Klan's role in discrimination?
Answer
A white supremacist group that used threats, beatings and lynching to enforce segregation through fear.
Question
What is the difference between de jure and de facto segregation?
Answer
De jure is segregation forced by law (the South); de facto is segregation by custom, housing and money (the North).
Question
Name the three parts of the discrimination system (L-V-V).
Answer
Laws (segregation), Votes blocked (disenfranchisement) and Violence (the threat that enforced it).
Question
What does the command term 'evaluate' require?
Answer
A judgement: weigh both sides and reach a supported conclusion — not just a list of examples.
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Full study notes for The nature of discrimination in the US, 1954–1965
Topic 4.1 hub
US civil rights movement (1954–1965)
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