Jim+Crow+Life


 * 1) 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? **

-The 14th Amendment was adopted after the Civil War to guarantee black rights. The 14th Amendment granted citizenship to us once we were enslaved. "Due process" means that no state can make or enforce a law that abridges the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States, and no state can deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of the law. The government must respect all of the legal rights that are owed to a person, and they cannot deny to any person within it's jurisdiction the "equal protection of the laws," which means that all people have the same access to the law and courts, and they must be treated equally by the law and courts - both in procedures and in the substance of the law.

Class Notes: - Due process means you have to go through a whole set of steps fairly.
 * 2) 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? **

-Well, even though Plessy was identified as black, he still sat on the "white section" of a car on the Louisiana Railroad. After he was arrested, his lawyer argued that the Separate Car Act violated the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution. The Supreme Court hear the case, and held the Louisiana Segregation statute constitutional. Some people say that the Fourteenth Amendment was "to enforce the absolute equality of the two races before the law, but in the nature of things, it could not been intended to abolish distinctions based upon color." The Plessy decision set the precedent that "separate" facilities for blacks and whites were constitutional as long as they were "equal." The doctrine soon extended to cover many areas of public life. The doctrine was proved a fiction - facilities for us were always lower quality for those of whites. It wasn't until 1954 that the "separate but equal" doctrine was removed.

Class Notes: -Plessy is 1/8 African American. One of his great grandparents was black. -Ordinary guy doing amazing things.


 * 3) The laws developed in the South became known as Jim Crow laws. Who was this Jim Crow fellow? Did he write the laws? **

-The name "Jim Crow" described the segregation laws, rules, and customs which lasted from 1877 to mid - 1960's. "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." Those were the lyrics to the extremely discriminating song "Jim Crow," which was written by a struggling white actor named "Rice." His Jim Crow song and dance routine turned out to be a great success, and was very widely known around the country. By 1838, the term "Jim Crow" was being used as a collective racial epithet for blacks. In the 19th century, though, the words "Jim Crow" were being used to describe the laws and customs that oppressed blacks.

Class Notes: -Jim Crow was a character for an uneducated freed slave.


 * 4) What are some specific examples of the Jim Crow laws from southern states? How did the laws affect you? **

-We were not allowed to play board games with white people. We also were not aloud to marry any white person. I had to go to a school for all Negroes. It was against the law for a negro to go to a white school and a white to go to a negro school. We couldn't ride on trains with whites. Almost everywhere you go you would see restrictive signs that reminded us of how inferior we are to white people. Sometimes we were not allowed to even be in the same neighborhood as the whites. Us black men could not shake hands with white men because it would mean we were equal and we were NEVER allowed to shake hands or even touch a white women because there was a huge risk of being accused of rape. We were not supposed to eat together, if we had to whites were always served first. We were not allowed to light the cigarette of a white women. We were not allowed to show any affection in public because it offended whites. We were referred to with our first name, not a courtesy title like "Mrs. or Mr.". If we rode in the same car as a white person we would have to sit in the back. We could never argue or accuse a white person of doing anything wrong. Us Negroes could not even cut a white person's hair! We always had to sit in the back of the bus and if a white person came on and there were no more seats we had to give up our seats.

Class Notes: -Miscegenation -Segregated from birth to death -Separate blood banks -Separate swimming pools -Separate libraries -Separate beaches -Jim Crow laws lead to different worlds for whites and blacks


 * 5) 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 America had a very somber mood. Images of restrictive signs or newspaper articles about the discrimination towards Negroes can help explain the realities of this time.




 * 6) What happened in the Scottsboro Case? How did it make you feel as an African American in the South? **

-Nine black youths were on a train traveling to find work when a fight broke out between a group of black and white hobos. The 9 black youths reported the incident to the station master and the whites were taken off the train. After they stopped at Paint rock ( a town), the 9 black youths were taken away by many armed men to jail. They were charged of assault of 2 white women disguised as boys hiding in the train. There was no evidence that any of this happened, but the women agreed to testify to cover up their sexual activity with the white men aboard the train. The 9 black youth did not lay a finger on the 2 women, but were all sentenced to death except for the 12 year old.


 * 7) Why should anyone care about your life during Jim Crow America? **

-The Jim Crow laws were extremely discriminating and unjust and made our lives very hard.