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 amendment was passed by congress to guarantee equal rights to african americans. it was adopted after the civil war. The amendment was designed to give citizenship and protect civil liberties of recently freed slaves. Due process is that you can not take away a citizens rights without a due process of law. The 14th amendment gave anybody born in the U.S. equal citizenship so previous slaves were guaranteed due process of law. Equal protection of the law is basically that everybody has equal rights and equal protection of the law.

** 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] Plessy was a Creole from New Orleans who went in a "white car" on the train. He was jailed so Plessy and a bunch of other civil rights activists went to court on the matter. The case went to the supreme court. The supreme court said that the 14th amendment was only to give equal rights to african americans in the law and that it was different from social things like segregation. The case ruling set the precedent of separate but equal. They had equal rights but they were separated and kept apart. Ultimately Plessy lost the case.

**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 a famous character who sang a song by Thomas Dartmouth. He was an extremely stereotypical black character and the name Jim Crow came to be used as a racial slur. Jim crows act was said to start the whole minstrel period (this was when white people painted their faces and pretended to be black people, stereotyping them). Jim Crow did not actully write the laws but the stereotypes that his character created shown negative light onto African Americans in the south.

“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.”This would have effected me, I would not know any of my African American friends and teachers. “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.” This means that I would have not been allowed to become friends with African American people.
 * 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]

Jim Crow America was a very cruel place for African Americans. It was filled with racism, segregation and lynching This Image represents the terrible practice of lynching and how people might have felt afterwards.
 * 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="color: rgb(129, 0, 129);">Jim Crow Images LINK 1 __/ <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[|Jim Crow Images LINK 2]

This picture shows what kind of segregation went on in the U.S during Jim Crow and how extreme the governments policies became.

This image depicts a African American man drinking from a colored drinking fountain and shows what kind of racism existed with Jim Crow.

In the Scottsboro case 9 African American men were falsely charged with raping two women from Alabama. The court ruling for the 9 youths was hanging except for the youngest who was 12. This made me feel outraged at the injustice of the social and judicial system.
 * What happened in the Scottsboro Case? How did it make you feel as an African American in the South?** <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[|Scottsboro LINK]

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> In Jim Crow it is not separate and equal but Separate and unequal. Public services for us blacks is a joke compared to that of the white person. It is mortifying to have to get off the sidewalk and into the road to let white people pass. It is degrading and feels terrible. the injustice cannot be described. Life in Jim Crow America sucks for us.
 * What do some of your friends and family say about life in Jim Crow America? (listen to one or two)** <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[|Audio History LINK 1]