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  . You can do this in Word by copying this document onto a new document, completing it using the resources below, and cutting and pasting it into a new page on your notebook. **

The 14th amendment, pass in 1886 was ratified to provide former slaves with citizenships and to protect their civil liberties or civil rights. To do this, Congress granted citizenships to anyone born in the United States and forbade states to deny any persons of their life, liberty and property without due process of law or denying any person the equal protection of laws. When Congress stated, "due process of law" they meant to say that it was the right of every person to attain the same fair rules and due process in all cases brought to trial. Equal protection of law means that no man, no matter their race, by the law shall be discriminated against.
 *  1) 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] **

On June 7th, 1892 a 30 year old man named Holmer Plessy was sent to jail for sitting in the "White" car on the railroad, after identifying himself as black. Despite his light complexion Plessy was considered black due to his ancestors possessing black features. Therefore, he was required to sit in the "Colored" section of the train, but refused to do so. A black civil right organization seized the opportunity and decided to challenge these laws in court. Plessy defendant argued that the laws violated the 13th and the 14th amendments in the constitution, and pursued the case all the way to the Supreme Court. The Supreme court eventually ruled against Plessy claiming that the "separate" facilities for different races were constitutional as long as the conditions were "equal".
 *  2) 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] **

Originally constructed from a song, Jim Crow was a stereotypical, exaggerate Black character often used in all kinds of popular performances. Actors began to used brunt coal to paint their faces black and used the black man as a less superior, lost character in the performance. Jim Crow became very widespread and was used as a racial slur and offended as a coonie or darkie. By the late 1900s, people ended describing Blacks as Jim Crow and began using the term to identify the laws which oppressed African Americans.
 * 3) 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] **


 * 4) 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] **
 * <span style="color: #1d1c14; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%; line-height: 22px;">“It shall be unlawful for a negro and white person to play together or in company with each other in any game of cards or dice, dominoes or checkers.”**—Birmingham, Alabama, 1930**
 * <span style="color: #1d1c14; font-family: georgia,serif; font-size: 120%; line-height: 22px;">“Marriages are void when one party is a white person and the other is possessed of one-eighth or more negro, Japanese, or Chinese blood.”**—Nebraska, 1911**
 * <span style="color: #1d1c14; font-family: georgia,serif; font-size: 120%; line-height: 22px;">“Separate free schools shall be established for the education of children of African descent; and it shall be unlawful for any colored child to attend any white school, or any white child to attend a colored school.”**—Missouri, 1929**
 * <span style="color: #1d1c14; font-family: georgia,serif; font-size: 120%; line-height: 22px;">“All railroads carrying passengers in the state (other than street railroads) shall provide equal but separate accommodations for the white and colored races, by providing two or more passenger cars for each passenger train, or by dividing the cars by a partition, so as to secure separate accommodations.”**—Tennessee, 1891**
 * <span style="color: #1d1c14; font-family: georgia,serif; font-size: 120%; line-height: 22px;">** “The Corporate Commission is hereby vested with power to require telephone companies in the State of Oklahoma to maintain separate booths for white and colored patrons when there is a demand for such separate booths.” **—Oklahoma, 1915

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">Basically everything in America was segregated, but the Supreme Court refused to change the rule as long as the conditions were equal. Even though, the laws declared that they be equal, evidence from the picture shows that Blacks were far more harshly treated then Whites. The laws were not enforced and therefore there was no organization to stop the states from crudely treating African Americans. There were various signs for the "Colored" people and the "White" people. Every day things were always separate and the colored and white people never conjoined.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;">5) What did Jim Crow America look like in the 1900s? What are some images that can help explain the realities of the time? <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat; color: #6e1a7e; padding-right: 10px;">[|Jim Crow Images LINK 1] / <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat; color: #001ee6; padding-right: 10px;">[|Jim Crow Images LINK 2] **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">In the 1930s, nine African American boys were charged for raping two white women on a freight train. These two women, feared that they would be prosecuted for their sexual activity on the train agreed to accuse the nine boys of raping them. All the boys were in reality innocent of the crime and were simply traveling to find work elsewhere, but the all-white jury proclaimed the nine boys guilty and all but the youngest were sentenced to execution. This fearful accusation moved the people and cries of protests surrounded the nation. After the conviction, this left other African Americans in a position that left them feeling vulnerable as if they did not have an equal voice in Government.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> 6) What happened in the Scottsboro Case? How did it make you feel as an African American in the South? <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat; color: #001ee6; font-size: 13pt; padding-right: 10px;">[|Scottsboro LINK] **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%; font-weight: normal; line-height: 19px;">The Jim Crow laws somehow managed to unite the Black people and marked the beginning of an era of struggle and protest for their Civil Rights. After the war, they thought they would gain equal rights as a reward for fighting and dying for the American country but in fact they did not. These laws were the turning point that stirred up the anger they had been hiding for centuries and will eventually lead the the Civil Rights movement that will change African American culture forever.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;">7) Why should anyone care about your lilfe during Jim Crow America? <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat; padding-right: 10px;">[|Why should I care? Link] **