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. **



**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] **

The 14th Amendment provided us with citizenship and protected our civil liberties. It made anyone born in the United States a citizen and it kept states from taking away our rights. The Southern States did not want to ratify this amendment because they did not like the fact that we were given freedom in the first place. Due process means that the government must respect all of our legal rights according to law. Equal protection of the laws means that we all have the right to go to court and be treated equally in court.

**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] **

I remember when Plessy was jailed for such an unimportant reason. He sat in the white train car without permission. That is not a crime. Plessy’s case went to the Supreme Court. Plessy’s case made it so that "separate" facilities for blacks and whites were constitutional as long as they were "equal."

**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] **

Jim Crow was modeled after an African American man that a white man by the name of Rice saw on the street singing a song. That’s how I recall Jim Crow was created. He did not write the laws. His stereotypical African American character merely set the stage for them.

**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] **

There was every law from restrictive signs to restricted real estate covenants. There was also miscegenation. Signs pointed colored people to where we could eat, drink, sit, sleep, and entertain ourselves. For me the laws against where we could go to school were awful. I was a very smart kid, and when I was told I couldn’t go to a smarter school because I was colored, I felt like I was wasting all of my potential.

**5) 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] **

The Jim Crow America was covered in signs telling colored people what they could and couldn’t do and where they could go and where they couldn’t go. Signs are a perfect example of the 1900s. They show how different our lives were from the stereotypical whites.

**<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13pt;">6) What happened in the Scottsboro Case? How did it make you feel as an African American in the South? [|Scottsboro LINK] **

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">In the Scottsboro Case, the boys were falsely accused of raping two white girls. As an African American in the South I felt like I could really see how unfairly people like me were treated. I can’t even comprehend how you can make a false accusation that harsh.

**<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13pt;">7) Why should anyone care about your life during Jim Crow America? [|Why should I care? Link] **

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">People should care about my life during Jim Crow America because it helps show you how things that you might think are little racist things really add up. It also gives everyone a chance to realize how bad it really is and things that you can do to prevent it from happening again. <span style="display: none; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 8pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Bottom of Form