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 fourteenth amendment was one of the three ratified after the Civil War concerning African American freedom. This individual amendment granted equal citizenship to all enslaved African Americans, meaning that all states were prohibited from denying the privileges of a regular citizen of the United States. Some of these privileges consist of depriving a person of his life, liberty, and or property without due process of law. Due process was the act of denying a person of the equal protection of the laws.

**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 first referred to in the song, "Jim Crow", written by Thomas Rice, a struggling actor in New York. This character is meant to be an exaggerated stereotypical black person modeled, after either a old black slave, or a black stable boy. In 1838 the term Jim Crow began being used as a racial term to refer to African Americans. Eventually near the end of the 1800's the term was more likely to be heard being used when speaking of laws that afflicted blacks.


 * 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]

One example of a Jim Crow was would be in Tennessee where all schools were segregated and it was illegal for whites and blacks to be put in the same school, this was enacted in 1925. In Alabama it was illegal for white and black people to be served in the same restaurant, unless there were separate entrances. Another Jim Crow law is that is was illegal for a white person to intermarry with a person of the black race. Lastly, separate accommodations were provided for whites than were provided for blacks on vehicles such as busses and trains.


 * 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]

<span style="color: rgb(37, 11, 193);">During Jim Crow America, everything was extremely segregated. At times, colored and white people could go to the same movie but they were separated based on their race. An example of an all black theater was Rex Theater in <span style="font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><span style="color: rgb(37, 11, 193);">Leland, Mississippi. Other things that were segregated based on race were water fountains, railways, school, and living quarters. Here is an example of a picture that shows the extreme segregation just for drinking water....


 * 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="color: rgb(37, 11, 193);">In the scottsboro case, nine black boys were charged with raping two white women, even though these accusations were false. Although people even believed that these boys were being falsely accused, they had to suffer consequences that were not fair to them. As an African American in the South, this would make you feel helpless, because even when something is so wrong that you didn't do people will always point their fingers at you without even bothering to know the facts.

<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]