Life+in+Jim+Crow+America

To set the stage for the civil rights movement, you must first understand the environment of segregation in the United States in the first half of the 20th century. What was life like in Jim Crow America? Cut and paste this information into a new page in your Unit 8 Online ISN. **** You (and your partner, if you have one) are African Americans who have lived through the era of Jim Crow in America. Using the links provided in this activity, respond to the “oral history questions” in first person. **

**Right after the Civil War, the 14th Amendment was ratified. What did the 14th Amendment provide for African Americans? What does “due process” and “equal protection of the laws” mean?** [|14th LINK]

The 14th Amendment provided citizenship to previously enslaved African Americans. "Due process" ensured that African Americans would not lose their life, liberty or property without consulting the law, or going to court. "Equal protection of the laws" stated that African Americans would apply to the laws, just like white people.

**Unfortunately, your equal rights were challenged by the Supreme Court in the case of Plessy v. Ferguson. What do you remember about the facts, decision, and impact of this case?** [|Plessy LINK] Homer Plessy was a 30-year-old man who was jailed for sitting in the "white car" of the East Louisiana Railroad. Plessy was considered black, despite his light complexion, and was required to sit in the "colored car". After the Separate Car Act was passed in Louisiana in 1892, a black civil rights organization decided to challenge it in court. The case went all the way to the Supreme Court. The decision was that the separation of races was constitutional, as long as each race had equal facilities. The impact of this decision was that it created separate race restaurants, schools, bathrooms, water fountains, etc. in America. Although the Plessy vs. Ferguson case decision stated that it was okay to separate races as long as they were equal, black facilities were always inferior.

**The laws developed in the South became known as Jim Crow laws. Who was this Jim Crow fellow? Did he write the laws?**[| Jim Crow LINK]

Jim Crow was a character portrayed by Thomas Dartmouth "Daddy" Rice. He wrote the song "Jim Crow" after hearing a black person singing it. Rice was a struggling actor in New York, and his song and dance "Jim Crow" was surprisingly successful. His character, Jim Crow was a very stereotypical Black man. Rice was one of the first actors ever to wear black face makeup while performing. He did not write the laws, but the collection of laws in the South were called Jim Crow Laws due to "Jim Crow" becoming a racial slur. Southern legislatures created the Jim Crow laws.


 * What are some specific examples of the Jim Crow laws from southern states? How did the laws affect you?** [|Jim Crow Laws LINK 1] / [|Jim Crow Laws LINK 2] / [|Jim Crow Laws LINK 3]

An example of a Jim Crow law was “No persons of any race other than the white Caucasian Race shall own, use or occupy any building or any lot, except that this covenant shall not prevent occupancy by domestic servants of a different race domiciled with an owner or tenant.” This affected me in a big way. I could not buy a house or store where I wished! Housing was limited, since so many sellers wouldn’t sell to African Americans – either because of a former agreement that the neighborhood wouldn’t have any Blacks, or purely because of racism. I find it to often be both. Overall, the laws limit every freedom imaginable. This country is all about freedom, but it seems as though that only applies to White people, not us African Americans.


 * What did Jim Crow America look like in the 1900s? What are some images that can help explain the realities of the time?** __ Jim Crow Images LINK 1 __/ [|Jim Crow Images LINK 2]

Jim Crow looked like many horrible things. It looked like segregation – black water fountains and white water fountains, even worse, the image of an African American hanging from a tree…otherwise known as lynching. On the trains and buses, African Americans being removed from their seats so White people could have them. Powerful images – such as those of lynching and signs that demonstrated segregation – are pictures that can help explain the realities of the time.


 * What happened in the Scottsboro Case? How did it make you feel as an African American in the South?** [|Scottsboro LINK]

In the Scottsboro Case, nine young boys were accused and convicted of raping two white women. What happened was the white hobos and black hobos on a train got in a fight, and the white hobos got thrown off. Authorities were told, and the train stopped at the next town in Alabama, and those nine boys were rounded up. Completely unrelated, two white women dressed as boys were found on the train. For fear that they would be prosecuted for their sexual activity with the white hobos who had gotten thrown off the train, they agreed to accuse the nine black boys of raping them. They were first all sentenced to death except the youngest, who was twelve, but the case was repealed many times. It makes me feel extremely angry! Two women dressed as men accused innocent children of raping them? And they were found guilty?! That's completely unprovoked and irrational. It just shows how far racism can go.

**What do some of your friends and family say about life in Jim Crow America? (listen to one or two)**[|Audio History LINK 1]

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