Life+in+Jim+Crow+America

**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 helped us out very much. It allowed us to become citizens and made life mainly more fair for us. It said that we blacks couldn't have anything taken from us without due process of law which i think means that there has to be a trial and search warrants and other lawful things like that for our things to be taken or sumthin. Equal protection of the laws means that we blacks cant be treated any different from the white folks and have to be treated equally in the eyes of the law. This is good cause it makes it easier for us to live happily.

**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 v Ferguson happened when some light black man decided to try an' sit in the white car of a train. He knew that this was illegal cause of the separate car act but decided to do this and take it to court. He and his lawyers thought that this violated his 13th and 14th so they tried real hard to make life equal. The courts said it was nothing discriminatory but just done to separate whites and blacks. This was a big deal because they outright said that this was ok.

**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 song that was sung by a black man, and seen by Rice, who was white. Rice started an acting routine in which he would color himself black, and then act like a black man who was singing and dancing. This routine became very popular across America, and soon, people were using "Jim Crow" as a racial slur against black people. Rice did not actually write the laws, but his routine did "help popularize the belief that blacks were lazy, stupid, inherently less human, and unworthy of integration".

Some specific examples of the Jim Crow laws from the southern states were: separate schools for white and black kids, blacks and whites cannot play games together, blacks and whites had to have separate places to do normal things like bathrooms, and blacks had restricted real-estate covenant. The laws affected me by forcing me to go to colored-only buildings, restricted me from places where I can live, forced me to sit on the back of the bus, and it the Jim Crow laws made me feel less like a human being.
 * 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 had a lot of signs pointing to different buildings showing where whites or blacks are allowed. Also, lynchings occurred frequently in Jim Crow America causing the bodies of many black people hang off trees. The images of lynchings, the signs showing where colored people are allowed to go, and most of all, the images of colored people at the time can all help explain the realities of this horrible time in American history.
 * 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 Case involves nine black youths being charged for raping two white women on a train. This case made me feel extremely mad because even though there was absolutely no evidence supporting the statement that the nine black youths raped two white women on the train, they were convicted anyway, just because they were black. This case showed me that colored people in the South had absolutely not rights and no protection in the South.
 * 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] Some of my friends and family say that life in Jim Crow American is very harsh and unfair towards African Americans. Segregation is huge in Jim Crow American, to the point where blacks and whites are not allowed by law, to do things together, let alone be in the same building together. Also, in Jim Crow America, most whites did not care at all for blacks, George Kenneth Butterfield Jr. had an experience in which is Uncle died because a white doctor did not arrive until eight hours after the accident.