Name: Class: Date:
Civil Rights
Indicate whether the statement is true or false. If it is false, change the identified word(s) to make the statement
true.
DIRECTION LINE: In the blank, indicate whether the statement is true (T) or false (F). If false edit the
statement to make it a true statement.
1. The Voting Rights Act of 1964 authorized the attorney general to send federal examiners to register
qualified voters, bypassing local officials who often refused to register African Americans. (F)
2. Dr. King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail" was a defense of nonviolent protest. (T)
3. In the spring of 1963, Dr. King decided to launch demonstrations in Birmingham, Alabama, knowing they
would probably provoke a violent response, because he believed that this was the only way to get
President Kennedy to actively support civil rights. (T)
4. The purpose of the Selma March was to campaign for voting rights in the South. (T)
5. Dr. King delivered the powerful speech outlining his dream of freedom and equality for all Americans at
the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., on August 28, 1963. (F)
Indicate the answer choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.
6. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., gave his “I Have a Dream” speech during the
a. March on Washington.
b. Poor People’s Campaign in
Memphis.
c. Selma March.
d. Watts Riot.
7. The bus boycott in Montgomery lasted for
a. about a year.
b. exactly six months.
c. less than two weeks.
d. nearly nine weeks.
8. The passage of which law marked a turning point in the civil rights movement?
a. Discrimination Act of 1964
b. Equal Pay Act of 1963
c. Segregation Act of 1965
d. Voting Rights Act of 1965
9. Outraged by Rosa Parks’s arrest, Jo Ann Robinson, head of a local organization called the Women’s
Political Council, called on African Americans to
a. boycott Montgomery’s buses.
b. elect new city officials.
c. go on strike.
d. stage a sit-in at the courthouse.
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10. What group called for an end to racial oppression and for control of major institutions in the African
American community?
a. Black Muslims
b. Black
Panthers
c. CORE
d. SNCC
11. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 helped protect civil rights, but it did not
a. end discrimination in employment.
b. end segregation in public places.
c. guarantee protection in the workplace.
d. guarantee the right to vote.
12. The Supreme Court’s ruling in Brown v. Board of Education ended racial segregation
a. in private clubs.
b. in public schools.
c. on buses.
d. on trains.
13. The Kerner Commission blamed the problems of inner cities on
a. overpopulation
.
b. poverty.
c. racism.
d. violence.
14. After the Brown v. Board of Education decision, many states adopted an elaborate set of requirements
other than race that schools could use to prevent African Americans from attending white schools, called
a. Jim Crow laws.
b. prompt and reasonable start laws.
c. pupil assignment laws.
d. separate-but-equal laws.
15. Who had become a symbol of the black power movement that was sweeping the nation by the early
1960s?
a. Bobby Seale
b. Coretta King
c. Eldridge
Cleaver
d. Malcolm X
16. Which act did President Johnson sign into law on July 2, 1964?
a. Civil Rights Act of 1964
b. Cloture Act of 1964
c. Interstate Travel Act of 1964
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Civil Rights
d. Voting Rights Act of 1964
17. When the Supreme Court ordered school districts to end school segregation “with all deliberate speed,”
the wording was vague enough that many districts were able to
a. appeal the Brown v. Board of Education ruling.
b. keep their schools segregated for many more years.
c. plan a protest march outside the Supreme Court building.
d. use the Southern Manifesto to defy the Supreme Court.
18. CORE successfully integrated many restaurants by using
a. boycotts.
b. protest marches.
c. sit-ins.
d. threats.
19. The Chicago Movement was an attempt to call attention to the
a. deplorable housing conditions many African American families faced.
b. efforts being made to improve African American neighborhoods.
c. Kerner Commission’s recommendation to create 2 million inner-city jobs.
d. riot during the Democratic National Convention in 1968.
20. In registering African Americans to vote, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 authorized the attorney general
to
a. provide literacy tests to newly registered voters.
b. refuse African Americans the right to vote.
c. send federal examiners to register qualified voters.
d. work side-by-side with local officials.
Enter the appropriate word(s) to complete the statement.
21. Despite the passage of several civil rights laws in the 1950s and 1960s, racism—prejudice or
discrimination toward people because of their race—was still common in American society.
22. After Malcolm X broke with the nation of Islam, he continued to criticize the organization
and was eventually killed by some of its members.
23. Although the civil rights movement did not lead to large protests until the 1950s, the NAACP had
supported court cases intended to overturn segregation since its founding in 1909. [Use the abbreviation
for the organization's name.]
24. African American leaders formed the Montgomery Improvement Association to run the bus boycott and
elected a pastor named Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., to lead the new organization.
25. When first established, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference set out to end segregation and
encourage African Americans to register to vote.
26. In 1956 a group of 101 Southern members of Congress signed the Southern Manifesto, denouncing the
Supreme Court's ruling in Brown v. Board of Education as a "clear abuse of judicial power."
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27. The "X" in Malcolm X's name stood as a symbol for the family name of his African ancestors who had
been enslaved.
28. After his pilgrimage to Makkah, Malcolm X concluded that an integrated society was possible.
29. The Freedom Riders traveled into the South by bus to test compliance with laws outlawing segregation
in interstate bus service.
30. In the 1950s and 1960s, poverty trapped many African Americans in inner cities.
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Name: Class: Date:
Civil Rights
Answer Key
1. False - The VOTING RIGHTS ACT OF 1965 authorized the attorney general to send federal examiners to
register qualified voters, bypassing local officials who often refused to register African Americans.
2. True
3. True
4. True
5. False - Dr. King delivered the powerful speech outlining his dream of freedom and equality for all
Americans at the Lincoln Memorial in WASHINGTON, D.C., on August 28, 1963.
6. a
7. a
8. d
9. a
10. b
11. d
12. b
13. c
14. c
15. d
16. a
17. b
18. c
19. a
20. c
21. racism
22. Nation
23. NAACP
24. King
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Name: Class: Date:
Civil Rights
25. register to vote
26. Manifesto
27. African
28. Malcolm X
29. Freedom Riders
30. poverty
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