African American Studies Glossary

The movement to end slavery in the United States, active primarily from the late 18th century through the Civil War. Also refers to contemporary movements to dismantle prisons and policing.

An intellectual framework that centers African history, culture, and perspectives in the study of the African diaspora, challenging Eurocentric narratives.

The artistic branch of the Black Power movement in the 1960s-1970s, emphasizing Black aesthetics and cultural nationalism. Key figures include Amiri Baraka, Nikki Giovanni, and Sonia Sanchez.

Laws passed by Southern states in 1865-1866 restricting the freedoms of formerly enslaved people, including vagrancy laws and labor contracts designed to maintain a cheap labor force.

A system in which enslaved people are treated as personal property that can be bought, sold, and inherited. In the American context, it was racially based and hereditary through the mother.

The FBI's Counter Intelligence Program (1956-1971) that surveilled, infiltrated, and disrupted domestic political organizations, disproportionately targeting Black civil rights and Black Power groups.

Discrimination based on skin tone within a racial group, with lighter skin typically receiving preferential treatment. Rooted in the social hierarchies of slavery.

A system practiced primarily in the post-Civil War South in which imprisoned people, overwhelmingly Black, were leased to private companies for labor under brutal conditions.

A scholarly framework originating in legal studies that examines how laws and institutions perpetuate racial inequality. Key scholars include Derrick Bell, Kimberle Crenshaw, and Richard Delgado.

The dispersion of people from their original homeland. The African diaspora refers to the communities of people of African descent living outside Africa, primarily as a result of the transatlantic slave trade.

Executive order issued by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, declaring enslaved people in Confederate states to be free. It did not immediately free all enslaved people but transformed the Civil War into a fight for freedom.

Federal agency (1865-1872) established to assist formerly enslaved people and poor whites in the South during Reconstruction by providing food, housing, medical aid, schools, and legal assistance.

The extralegal killing of people, predominantly Black men, by mobs, especially prevalent in the American South from the 1880s to the 1960s. Used as a tool of racial terrorism to enforce white supremacy.

The practice of enslaved people escaping bondage and forming independent communities (maroon communities) in remote areas. Occurred throughout the Americas, from Jamaica to the Great Dismal Swamp.

A literary and intellectual movement founded in the 1930s by Francophone Black writers including Aime Cesaire and Leopold Senghor that celebrated Black identity, culture, and heritage as a response to colonialism.

A concept developed by Cedric Robinson describing how capitalism has historically relied on the production of racial difference to exploit labor, extract wealth, and justify inequality.

A philosophy prominent in the late 19th and early 20th centuries holding that Black Americans could challenge racism through education, moral character, and economic achievement.

The 13th (abolition of slavery), 14th (equal protection and citizenship), and 15th (voting rights) Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, ratified between 1865 and 1870.

Compensation or remedies for the historical injustices of slavery, Jim Crow, and ongoing racial discrimination. Proposals range from direct payments to investments in Black communities, education, and housing.

The strategy of marginalized groups policing their own members' behavior and presentation to conform to mainstream standards in order to gain acceptance, often criticized for placing the burden of racism on its victims.

The enforced separation of racial groups in daily life, including housing, education, employment, and public facilities. De jure segregation was mandated by law; de facto segregation persists through institutional practices.

An agricultural system prevalent in the post-Civil War South in which tenant farmers, many of them formerly enslaved, worked land owned by others in exchange for a share of the crops, often trapping them in cycles of debt.

The period from roughly 1877 to 1920 characterized by the worst conditions for African Americans after emancipation, including widespread lynching, disenfranchisement, and the rise of Jim Crow laws.

A network of secret routes and safe houses used by enslaved people to escape to free states and Canada in the 19th century. Key conductors included Harriet Tubman, who made approximately 13 rescue missions.

The ideology and system of power asserting the superiority of white people over other racial groups, manifested in institutional practices, cultural norms, and organized movements throughout American history.