Jim+Crow

Life in JimCrow America **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 guaranteed us blacks rights. The amendment was set up to grant citizenship and protect the civil liberties of recently freed slaves. It did this by granting citizenship to anyone born in the United States and prohibiting states from denying or abridging the privileges or immunities of citizens of the U.S., depriving any person of his life, liberty, or property without due process of law, or denying to any person within their jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. Due process means that there is fairness in all aspects of law - civil and criminal. and equal protection of laws  is right of all persons to have the same access to the law and courts and to be treated equally by the law and courts.  I remember that Homer Plessy was a black man under Louisiana law but looked a lot more like a white person. Louisiana had passed the Separate Car act which separated white from blacks in train cars. Homer Plessy deliberatly walked onto a car for white people and announced that he was black. He was arrested and his case went all the way to the supreme court. Plessy's lawyer said that te separate car acts violated the thirteenth and fourteenth amendments. The court decided that the Separate Car acts were constitutional if the cars were equal. The "separate but equal" decision expanded and now restaurants, theaters, restrooms, and public schools and also segregated but 'equal'. The black facilities are a lot dirtier and uglier than the white ones, so it isn't very equal.  Jim Crow was the name of a song written by Thomas Dartmouth "Daddy" Rice. Rice would sing the Jim Crow song at the Park Theater in New York and people thought he was either a black ragged stable boy or an old man who walked with difficulty. When Rice was on stage singing the song Jim Crow he became Jim Crow and was an exaggerated, stereotypical, black man. Jim Crow was actually a white man who dressed and put make up on to seem a black man. His act attracted many white audiences across the country. By 1838 Jim Crow was used as a racial epithet, not nearly as severe as nigger but still harsh. Jim Crow didn't actually write the laws, the word Jim crow later the word changed and soon it became known to describe the laws and customs that oppressed 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]
 * 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]

My kids cant go the same school as white kids, I am not allowed to marry anyone of another race, during all entertainment whites and blacks are seperate, even the prisons are in four sections white men, white women, black men, black women. All of the transportation even has seperate places for us, white people cant play games together. These laws make me feel different and not good enough to share with the whites. I want to fight the whites and show them that i am good enough to share a bathroom with them.
 * 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]

Everything that was separated had signs to show which was which. Everyone would be segregated which would only make the balacks want to rebel more and that would lead to the whites hating them.
 * 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]

In the Scottsboro Case African Americans were falsely charged with the raping of two white women. The men were on a train to find work and a fight broke out between the African Americans and the Whites. The whites were thrown off the train but later reported a story to officals that the Africans American men had assulted them. Two of the white men were actually women and they agreed to testify that the nine African Americans had sexually assulted them because they had had sexual relations with some of the white men on board and they didnt want to get into trouble. There were nine Afrcian Americans who alegedly participated and eight of the nine were sentenced to death, the youngest, 12, was not sentenced to death. Being in the south we felt like had unfair treatment because they are falsely accusing innocent black men. It's unfair to us blacks in the south to be treated in such an unfair manner. It isnt right for us not to be treated as equals and this outrages us, making us want revenge against whites becuase of the outbreaks of fighting and the death sentencing / accusing.
 * What happened in the Scottsboro Case? How did it make you feel as an African American in the South?** [|Scottsboro LINK]

They think that it is horrible and not fair. They believe that the constiution should protect them too and not just whites. They all think that all men are created equal and there is no need to separate them and have separate facilities for them. All men are created equal and because we are all staying on this planet we have to learn how to get along because none of the races are going to just go away. We should all live together in peace.
 * What do some of your friends and family say about life in Jim Crow America? (listen to one or two)** [|Audio History LINK 1]