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 and granted civil liberties to me and everyone else of color who had been enslaved. People could not take our lives, liberty, or property before instating the due process of law that would be used for any white man. We are now guaranteed to be equally protected by the same laws white men follow and abide by.

**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]

The Plessy v. Ferguson case was about the Separate Car Act, a law passed in Louisiana. The law made train cars legally segregated, keeping blacks and whites in separate cars. I remember a man named Homer Plessy, a member of a black civil rights group, purposely sat in an only white car on the East Louisiana Railroad. He was arrested and the case went all the way to the Supreme Court. It was decided that it was all right if blacks and whites had separate things as long as they were "equal". It really made separate utilities for blacks and whites more common and more accepted, as long as they were equal... which most of the time they were not.

**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]

An actor named Thomas Rice witnessed a black man walking down the street in New York singing a song about a fellow named Jim Crow. Rice was not the most successful actor in the world, but I remember when he created his exaggerated black dancing singing fool of a character his career sky rocketed. He would go up on the stage wearing horrible black makeup all over his face, with all his exposed skin darkened by burnt cork, and do a horribly offensive song and dance routine. Soon Jim Crow became a generic name for black people just the same as "darkie" or "coon". But by the end of the 19th century the word evolved into a word that described laws and costumes that oppressed blacks.


 * 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]

A law Nebraska said that "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." I had to go to an all colored school, I hardly ever saw any white children growing up. I was not permitted to offer a hand shake to any male, and if attempted to shake a females hand I would have been accused of rape. White drivers even had the right of way in all intersections.


 * 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]



This was a "juke joint", a living quarters for black migrant workers



These young children were already experiencing segregation, they were forced to use a separate water pump than the white children.



A protest took place at this state fair parade for equal rights, but white journalists wouldn't publish it in the paper.


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

9 young black men were falsely accused of raping two white women and were sentenced to death by an all white jury. I remember this case caused quite the commotion, I was very upset about it myself. 9 innocent young boys sentenced to death just mostly just because of their color. I felt very insecure and scared about my residence in the South, I wanted to move North as soon as I got the opportunity.

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

The page “The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow. Audio Clip. Title Here | PBS” has content of MIME type “audio/x-pn-realaudio-plugin”. Because you don’t have a plug-in installed for this MIME type, this content can’t be displayed.

whaaaaaaat?