Civil Rights Act of 1991: Banned intentional workplace discrimination by
employers.
Commission on Interracial Cooperation: Formed after World War I, this
Atlanta-based organization opposed lynching and restrictions on black
voting and cautiously promoted socioeconomic opportunities for black
southerners.
Congress of Racial Equality: An interracial civil rights group founded by James
Farmer in 1942.
Coordinating Council of Community Organizations: The group formed in 1962
to integrate Chicago’s housing and schools.
Council of Federated Organizations: An umbrella organization that coordinated
civil rights groups during Mississippi Freedom Summer.
Curse of Ham: A biblical passage used to justify black slavery.
Debt Peonage: A practice by white southerners to retain black farm workers
who owed them money.
Desegregation: The elimination of laws and customs that separate the races in
schools, public accommodations, and neighborhoods.
Disfranchisement: The various means, such as the poll tax and white primar-
ies, to prevent blacks from voting.
Don’t Buy Where You Can’t Work: Urban protests during the Great Depression
against businesses that did not hire black workers.
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission: A federal agency established in
1964 to investigate claims of job discrimination.
Fair Employment Practice Committee: Under pressure from A. Philip Randolph,
president Franklin D. Roosevelt established this temporary federal agency in
1942 to prevent hiring discrimination by war industries.
Federal Bureau of Investigation: The main investigative arm of the US justice
department. Observed but did not prosecute crimes against civil rights workers.
Fellowship of Reconciliation: Christian pacifist organization that backed racial
integration.
Fifteenth Amendment: This 1870 constitutional amendment prohibited
racial discrimination in voting.
Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals: This federal court strongly endorsed racial
justice in the deep South.
Fourteenth Amendment: This 1868 constitutional amendment made blacks
citizens and guaranteed them ‘equal protection of the laws.’xxx THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENTTHEC_A01.qxd 9/12/08 10:57 PM Page xxx