Life+inJim+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] When the 14th amendment happened it granted citizenship to me because I was enslaved before and was born in the US. This law was passed by Congress in June 1866 and was ratified in 1868. This say that I will get equal protection of the laws and due process, which means everyone that was born in the US even me has the same rights and must be equal when it comes to the law, life, and liberty. This is great knowing that I can walk down a street without worry, knowing that I am safe from harm.

**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] This happened when Louisiana passed the Separate Car Act, which made blacks sit in a different train car then the whites. I remember that a man named Plessy decided to test the act out by sitting in a white only car when he was clearly black. He was arrested for doing this act and put on trail, with his trial being the it went against the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendment. This outburst went all the way to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court thought that it was Constitution and let Louisiana go on with there act. They thought that the act still kept the equal balance with blacks and whites, so it was safe to keep around. Test- split up but still equal

**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 a fellow that every black know is really an actor named Rice that is looking for his big break in the world. He got the idea when heard a black sing. He took this up by putting on black makeup and acting like a black. This became popular every where and the name Jim Crow became the word people call blacks, but mostly it was a name for the laws that hurt blacks and made them unequal. This was not a really bad name but it still hurt us inside. So no he did not write the laws, but he had a big part in showing how unequal we had it.

Some specific examples are that a black man could not shake hands with a white man because it should that they where socially equal. This effected me by saying that I was not thought of as equal and could not walk down a street and pass whites that I know from some where and feel less then them. Another example is that Stetson Kennedy, the author of //Jim Crow Guide// came up with several rules that blacks should follow; these are never assert or even intimate that a White person is lying, never impute dishonorable intentions to a White person, never suggest that a White person is from an inferior class, never lay claim to, or overly demonstrate, superior knowledge or intelligence, never curse a White person, never laugh derisively at a White person, and never comment upon the appearance of a White female. This hurt knowing that whites can be mean to me, but I can never defend me self if I am offended. Also Blacks were denied the right to vote by grandfather clauses which is laws that restricted the right to vote to people whose ancestors had voted before the Civil War, also poll taxes they where fees charged to poor Blacks, white primaries which said only Democrats could vote, only Whites could be Democrats, and literacy tests. This hurt us bad not only taking away are rights and making us less equal, it also made us not as active in politics.
 * 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]


 * 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]

Well lets start with the original thought about signs, the basic signs of black enter in back door, or no services to blacks. This was a image that reminded us all of how we are not equal and not treated the same. Other signs we could see is the famous cartoons telling all of America that we are not equal and not really welcomed here. They have given us many images to base our life on and to give an idea on what our life is like being black.

The Scottsboro Case was about nine black men that where on a train heading to a new town looking for job, when they kicked out other white men from the train. The white men told the train station which told the next train station to stop the train. When the train was stopped and the nine boys where taken from the car they found two white girls dressed in boy cloths. The officers accused the men of raping the two girls and the girl went with it knowing that it had never happened. This shocked many blacks to now that they where going to be treated with no right and did not have the right to tell the rel story. In the end eight of the boys where put to death and one lived because he was only twelve years old. This is not right and I wish something could be done.
 * 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]

<span style="color: #008000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">One guy named Nobuo Honda was from Hawaii he did not know the rules of the south and what to expect. He was going to the south to learn about being a soldier, he first got on a bus and sat in the back. The bus driver seeing him and counting him white tells him to sit in the front so he does. This is the first time he felt the Jim Crow Laws and they really confused him because he did not know if he was black or white. Another person was Edwilda Isaac, a girl that went to a college that only had six blacks. Now every mourning she would find a girl staring at her finally she asked why was she staring the reason was that her brother told her story that where not true and the girl wanted to know the truth. After a long talk the girl invited her and her friend to spend holiday break at the girls house. Edwilda said yes and when they got to the girls home there was people lined up on the street. They had never seen blacks before and were curious about them asking them question about how they were and their life.