LifeInJimCrowAmerica

** 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 recognizes me as a citizen of the United States and protects my civil liberties. "Due process" means the government must respect all my legal rights even though I am a negro and "equal protection of the laws"means that I will have the same protections under the law as white people.

**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]

Homer Plessy, of mixed race and out to prove a point, sat in the "white" section of a train car in Louisiana and identified himself as "colored". After his arrest fro violating the Louisiana segregation law, The U.S. Supreme Court held that segregation, or "separate but equal" was constitutional. So that became the rule for "colored" people in the South well into the 1960s. Separate was never equal for us; it was always inferior - worse schools, back of the bus, etc. How was that 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 started as a line in a song, picked up by a white actor who made him an exaggerated, stereotypical negro. The actor, Thomas Dartmouth Rice, was an early wearer of blackface makeup made to look like me. My kind was portrayed as singeing, dancing and grinning fools. Over time, Jim Crow was used to describe oppressive laws against the negro race.


 * 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]

Some examples of Jim Crow laws are
 * 1) Marriage between whites and peploe with at least 1/8 Negro, Japanese or Chinese blood are void (Nebraska, 1911). Not only could I not marry someone white, I better not be seen with one.
 * 2) There are schools for colored only and schools for white only (Misssouri, 1929). My children went to inferior schools.
 * 3) White motorists had the right of way at all intersections. It was very hard to drive anywhere fast.
 * 4) Poll taxes and literacy test laws made it difficult, if not impossible for Negros to vote.


 * 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]

Jim Crow America looked like two different Americas, one for white and one for colored. The white world was nicer, richer and more fair. The colored world was poor, rundown and very rarely fair. Signs were everywhere telling us which water fountain, train car, bus seat, or hotel we could use.


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

In the1930s, the Scottsboro Case made me understand that Negroes had no rights in the South. Nine Negroes were falsely accused of raping two white women. The all white jury convicted them on false testimony and sentenced all but the youngest to death. The U.S. Supreme Court overturned it, Alalbama retried it and the Supreme Court kept reversing it. Eventually, Alabama paroled the men, which wasn't fair either since they were innocent.

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

My cousin T.R learned how to work with Jim Crow to advance himself. He was interested in aviation and learned as much as he could about it. He got a flying license from Tuskogee but couldn't go into general aviation as a Negro to get a job. He did become a flight instructor at Tennessee State College, where all his students were Negro My nephew Joseph, who grew up in Los Angeles, traveled to Louisiana at age nine in 1961. He discovered that he and his uncle could not sleep at "white" hotels in the South, use the bathroom at gas stations and were almost lynched. He sure was glad to go back to California..