Jim+Crow+Life

**JIM CROW LIFE

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 guranteed equal rights to all people if they were born in the US. It granted citizenship to all who were born in the US to any race. Due process of law means that no one can just take away your property or violate your rights without the law saying that it is allowed, or it must go through court. Equal protection of the laws means that there will be equal protection for all 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] Plessy a light colored man who was caught and jailed for sitting in the white car on a train. In 1892 a law was made in Luisinana that seperated whites from blacks on railroads. A civil rights organization challenged the law in court. Plessy delibratly sat in the white section of the cars, arrested, and the case went to the U.S. supreme court. The Lawyer said that it violated the 13th and 14th amendment. The final desicion was that seperate facilities was okay as long as they were equal. This did happen, although the black facilities weren't equal and not as nice as the white's and eventually it was rebuted again in the 50's.

**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] Thomas Rice was a white actor and based his character off a song he heard from a black male. He would appear on stage as an over exaggerated and stereotypical black man. the name was used as a collective racial term that was somewhat offensive. Eventually it was just used to describe the laws that opressed blacks. No he did not write the laws.

One law is, “It shall be unlawful for a negro and white person to play together or in company with each other in any game of cards or dice, dominoes or checkers.” When I was a child, I could not play a simple game such as one of the ones mentioned if my friend were white. Another is, “Marriages are void when one party is a white person and the other is possessed of one-eighth or more negro, Japanese, or Chinese blood.” If one of my great-grandparents were black I would not be able to marry a white man even if I loved them. Some others had to do with school, one of the major ones being, "Separate free schools shall be established for the education of children of African descent; and it shall be unlawful for any colored child to attend any white school, or any white child to attend a colored school.” All children were segregated so they could not interact with each other. There are other laws where there were separate bathrooms for us "darkies" and for whites, and other places to serve food in restaurants, and even separate train cars. Some signs even went as far as "No dogs, negroes, mexicans." Imagine how that made some of us African Americans feel.
 * 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]

A train conductor of some sort is removing an African American from a railroad car because he is sitting in the wrong section according to the Jim Crow Laws. Motion picture cinemas would segregate their movies, and sometime not even open the theaters to us. This theatre however sometimes would show movies to an "all black audience only" We even had their own drinking fountains. "White boys at a Clarendon County school pose for me, after I stopped my car near their school. They rode in buses to modern, well-funded schools. A lightpole in the background illuminated a playing field for nighttime activities."--Cecil J. Williams In the late 1940s black people were not admitted to the public hospitals in Dallas. So the black doctors created their own hospital.”--R. C. Hickman
 * 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]

Nine black youths were charged of raping two white women. A fight broke out among white and black hobos. The black men were thrown in jai at the next stop. They found two women on the train and were fearful of being charged for their sexual activity on the train. The women agreed to tesstify against the black men. The black youths were all sentenced to death except the youngest one. Although this caused an huge uproar in the North, it was very frustrating for us the South. Many of us felt that we were betrayed because the men were wrongly accused and didn't even have "due process of law" to prove them guilty.
 * What happened in the Scottsboro Case? How did it make you feel as an African American in the South?** [|Scottsboro LINK]

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