Jimcrowlife

**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] It provided us with a citizenship, because we were born in the United States. It also made it so that we got due process of the law, and that we would get equal protection of the law. Due process means that we get a fair and unbiased trial and equal protection of the law means that we deserve as much right to protection from lynching as any white person.

**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] If I recall correctly, Homer Plessy was a gentleman of color that sat in the white section of the train. This was a violation of the Seperate Car Act passed by Louisiana. He sat there intentionally, to get the issue brought up in court. It reached the Supreme Court. Plessy's lawyer argued that this did not give equal rights to both blacks and whites, but it was ruled that this was constitutional. It said that if the two sections of the train were equal, it does not destroy the legal equality of the two races. In the words of Justice John Harlan, it " will encourage the belief that it is possible, by means of state enactments, to defeat the beneficent purposes which the people of the United States had in view when they adopted the recent amendments of the Constitution." In other words, it basically proved that the 13th and 14th amendments could be ignored. It led to all other segregated facilities.

**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 came from a song heard by Thomas Rice that was adapted into the below song. //"Come listen all you galls and boys, I'm going to sing a little song, My name is Jim Crow. Weel about and turn about and do jis so, Eb'ry time I weel about I jump Jim Crow."// He performed it on stage, as a highly stereotypical African American. His performance was very successful, and it became widely known across the nation. The name Jim Crow was also adopted as another derogatory name for an African American. But as time passed, it became the name used for laws that oppressed blacks.

In my home state of Mississippi, we were not allowed in the same schools as white people. We weren't allowed to marry white people either, or even be in the same prisons. Signs sprung up everywhere, telling us we couldn't sit with white people, or use the same water fountain as them. I remember when we were trying to buy our first house, and we weren't even allowed to be in some neighborhoods. I remember once when I was eating at a restaurant, and this one didn't have segregated rooms. I was the second person there, but after me, three more whites arrived. All of them got served before me.
 * 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]

The Scottsboro Boys were nine African American boys charged with raping two white women. The boys were on the train looking for jobs, and a fight broke out between them and some other hobos that were white. The boys threw the white men off the train, but they were caught at the next station. Two white women, dressed as men, were also found on the train, and the police charged the boys with sexual assault of the two women. All nine were convicted, and eight were sentenced to death. As an African American in the south, this really makes me feel vulnerable. White people can get away with anything they want, acuse us of any crime, and without a doubt we will be guilty. Most of the times we're arrested, we haven't done anything wrond at all.
 * 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;">**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] These didn't work on my computer. none //Optional:// a note about this edit for the page history log

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