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. **
 * [[image:turningpoints08:lifeJCA.png]]** 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 provided us with equal protection of them laws. Meanin' that all of the laws that were passed were the same for whites an' blacks.

**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]

Well, I remember that a man by the name of Homer Plessy sat himself down in a white-only railroad car, even though he was 1/8 black. He was arrested and put on trial. Which, apparently, was exactly what Homer wanted to have happen. His case went all the way to the Supreme Court, and they ruled that seperation between the races was all right as long as the seperation was equal. This led to the Southern Legislators to pass them Jim Crow laws, cause it was seperate an' 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] No sir. Jim Crow was a black character in a show that was made up by a white actor. Jim Crow was what the whites thought blacks were like.


 * 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]

Well, there were seperate schools for the races. Seperate hospitals, too. I couldn't eat in the same restaurant as a white person unless there was a wall at least seven feet high that seperated us.


 * 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]

It wasn't a pretty sight, I can tell ya that much.


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

Two white women said that nine black men raped them on a railroad boxcar (this was a lie). An all white juried tried the men and sentence all but the youngest (who was 12 years old) to death. I was extremely angry that such an outrage could occur.

**What do some of your friends and family say about life in Jim Crow America? (listen to one or two)** [|Audio History LINK 1] //Optional:// a note about this edit for the page history log ||