Chapter 5

Question 1

Civil rights

Answer 1

Civil rights are the rights that protect people from unfair treatment and ensure equal treatment under the law—like the right to vote, go to school, or get a job without discrimination.

Question 2

Poll taxes

Answer 2

Small taxes levied on the right to vote.
Poll taxes were used by most Southern states to exclude African Americans from voting.

Question 3

White primary

Answer 3

Primary elections from which Atrican Americans were excluded, an exclusion that, in the heavily Democratic South, deprived African Americans of a voice in the real contests. The Supreme Court declared white primaries unconstitutional in 1944.

Question 4

Voting rights of 1965

Answer 4

A law designed to help end formal and informal barriers to African American suffrage. Under the law, hundreds of thousands of African Americans registered to vote, and the number of African American elected officials increased dramatically.

Question 5

Americans with disabilities act of 1990

Answer 5

A law passed in 1990 that requires employers and public facilities to make
“reasonable accommodations” for people with disabilities and prohibits discrimination against these individuals in employment.

Question 6

Affirmative action

Answer 6

A policy designed to give special attention to or compensatory treatment for members of some previously disadvantaged group.