KEY TERMS Key Terms and People to Know for the Regents Exam
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Movement led President Lyndon Johnson to sign the Civil Rights Act, which outlawed discrimination and segregation in public accommodations and signaled the end of Jim Crow laws in the South.
Voting Rights Act of 1965
The Voting Rights Act gave the federal government power to oversee elections in order to prevent voting discrimination (literacy tests, intimidation) that had kept African Americans from voting in the South.
LBJ’s Great Society
President Lyndon B. Johnson created programs designed to fight poverty and discrimination. The programs included funding for welfare, healthcare, housing, education, jobs programs, consumer protection, environmental regulations, and more.
Affirmative Action
The practice of giving preference to minorities and women in applications for jobs and education. The program has been criticized as “reverse discrimination” that can sometime exclude more qualified candidates. Challenged in U. of California v. Bakke.