1. The 1950s Civil Rights Movement Vocabulary list

2. Civil Rights Definition: The rights that every person should have regardless of his or her sex, race, or religion.

3. Segregation Definition: The practice or policy of keeping people of different races, religions, etc., separate from each other.

4. Discrimination Definition: The practice of unfairly treating a person or group of people differently from other people or groups of people.

5. NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) Definition: An American organization that works to protect the rights of African-Americans.

6. Constitutionality Definition: The state of being allowed by or in agreement with the United States Constitution.

7. Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) Definition: A United States Supreme Court case that declared it is legal to have “separate but equal” public accommodations. The Supreme Court ruling made segregation an official and legal policy throughout the United States.

8. Brown v. The Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas (1954) Definition: A Supreme Court case that ruled “separate but equal” facilities are unconstitutional and not equal. This case was the first major step in ending segregation in America.

9. Desegregate Definition: To end a policy that keeps people of different races apart. To end a policy of segregation.

10. Boycott Definition: To refuse to buy, use, or participate in (something) as a way of protesting. In the 1950s, African Americans boycotted public transportation in the city of Montgomery, Alabama in order to protest segregation in public transportation.

11. Indicted Definition: To formally decide that someone should be put on trial for a crime.

12. Unconstitutional Definition: A law that is against the principles and acts stated in the United States Constitution.