Jim+Crow+Life

** You and your partner 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. ** 
 * 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. **

**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 Ammendment not only granted us African Americans citezenship and protected all civil liberties in the United States, but everyone born in the USA. This Ammendment was passed in June, 1866 and then ratified in the states in 1868.

**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] On June 30th 1892, an African American was arrested because he sat in a "White" car even though he was required to sit in the "Black" car. When Luisianna passed the Separate Car Act in 1892, it was challenged and taken to the United States Supreme Court. They argued that the state of Luisianna violated the 13th and 14th Ammendment. This settled that "separate" facilities are constitional as long as they were equal. This was not true because almost all "Colored" facilities were not as nice as the "White" facilities. This continued until 1954 when it was struck down by another court case, Brown vs. Board of Educatin of Topeka.

**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 is a derogatory term used against African Americans. The name originated from an actor by the name of Thomas Dartmouth "Daddy" Rice. He is one of the first white actors to play a black man. Mr. Rice had to put on "blackface makeup", which is when the actor's skin is darkened with burnt cork. The white audience was amenable to the stereotypes that blacks are singing, dancing, and grinning goons. Rice did an outstanding job of showing it too. He did not write the laws, but because of his performance it became a new racial slur for us. So the laws just took on to our newly found "nickname".

In the state of Luisiana school kids, such as myself, are forced to be in segregated schools. One for white children and one for black kids. The white kids facilities are much nicer that ours, which isn't much of a surprise as they don't care as much about us as the whites. Another example from Luisiana is that we can ride on the same busses, but they are supposedly __//**seperate but equal**//__. How is that possible?
 * 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]

It was not a pretty sight at all. I once walked past a body that had just been lynched, I still have nightmares. Here are some pictures of those dreadful moments.
 * 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]

[|http://memory.loc.gov] [|http://home.earthlink.net]

The Scottsboro Case involved nine Afrian-American men falsly charged with raping two white women in the 1930s. This case began on March 25th, 1931. Many African-Americans and some whites were riding a train to find jobs. There was a fight between the African-Americans and white hobos, the whites were thrown off the train. They later reported the incident to the owner and he demanded the train to be stopped. The African-Americans were then arrested with the charge of assualt, the raping of two white women aboard the train. The trial was held in Scotsboro, Alabama where the all white jury convicted them and a dealth sentances. It made us African-Americans feel left out or mistreated in some cases since the state of Alabama excluded all of our race from the defending jury. It made us feel like we had consistant pressure and we needed to move to the Northern States.
 * What happened in the Scottsboro Case? How did it make you feel as an African American in the South?** [|Scottsboro LINK]

**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 life in Jim Crow America was full of segregation. We were always careful of what we did and thought of the consiquences if we did it. Though life wasn't always bad it was acually an encouragment. It helped us realize what we could or should try to change. The segregated community was horable. Sometimes we were forced to shop in the back of the stores, we had worse facilties, and separte types of cars, trains, and other transportation.