SUGGESTED TOPICS

Jim Crow Laws - laws in the south that discriminated against African-American people

Brown v. Board of Education - the Supreme Court decides that it is unconstitutional for schools to be segregated

Montgomery Bus Boycott - Rosa Parks' experience set this in motion

Desegregation at Little Rock - 9 African-American students integrate an all-white high school in Arkansas

Sit-ins - sitting and refusing to leave "whites only" lunch counters and restaurants

Freedom Rides - black and white people ride buses through the South to challenge segregation

March on Washington - millions of people heard Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech

Birmingham - police turn fire hoses and dogs on marchers

Church Bombing in Birmingham - 4 African-American girls are killed

James Meredith - first black man to graduate from the University of Mississippi

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 - the law that made it illegal to discriminate against people because of race

Bloody Sunday - police attack marchers going from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama

The Assassination of Dr. King

 

DEFINITIONS (MEANINGS OF WORDS)

unconstitutional - against the Constitution, against the law of the land

segregated - blacks and whites attending separate schools

discrimination - unfair, unequal treatment, usually because of race or religion

integration - bringing together of people of different races

illegal - against the law

Little Rock - a city in Arkansas

Birmingham, Selma, Montgomery - cities in Alabama

assassination - murder of a person in public life, like a president or other leader

The Supreme Court - the highest court in the land. The Supreme Court Justices (judges)  decide whether a law is unconstitutional or not

boycott - people refusing to use a service, such as riding the city buses

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