Jim+Crow+Life+Homework

Jim Crow Life Homework- Lexi Miller

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 fourteenth amendment granted citizenship to us African Americans who were previously enslaved. It was also set to protect the civil liberties of us freed slaves as well. It did this by granting citizenship to all Americans born in the US. It also prohibited states from denying any citizens of their rights in the constitution. “Equal protection of the laws” meant that there could be no laws created that challenged these rights. “Due process of law” means that you can’t deny someone their rights without going through the court of law or something like that. It means that you can’t just go up to someone and take their rights away. They have to go through court and things like that. I remember the case clearly. I remember thinking that separating us and segregating us was unconstitutional and that we should all be equal. Segregating us doesn’t make us equal. It wasn’t fair. We should all be treated as equals. The Louisiana segregation statute was considered constitutional in court. I remember that one man argued that this will lead people to believe that it is possible to overlook the Fourteenth Amendment. The Plessy case set the precedent that separate places for blacks and whites were constitutional as long as they were equal. They were never equal though because the whites were always cleaner than our section.
 * 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]

Jim Crow is a character in a song that was written. It is said to either be a ragged African American stable boy or an old slave that had trouble walking. Jim Crow was a stereotypical exaggerated black character. Jim Crow didn’t actually write laws, he was just a character. Daddy Rice was an actor who was also said to be Jim Crow. Daddy Rice wrote the song that Jim Crow appeared in. He was an actor who put on black makeup and pretended to be African American. He is said to be the original Jim Crow.


 * 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]

In hospitals we had to be segregated in separate buildings. In trains there were separate carts for whites and blacks. Marriages between blacks and whites were not aloud and considered void. There were separate schools for the blacks and whites. There were separate waiting rooms in placing as well. There were signs all around that permitted me from certain places around. We were regulated to second class citizens. The laws made people believe that whites were better than blacks even though that’s not the case. Everyone should be equal. These laws affected me because every where I went, there was a sign that kept me from going in places or segregating me from places where white people went. They affected me every time I went somewhere and the signs always popped up.
 * 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]

There were signs all around that segregated whites from blacks. They forbid you to go in some bathrooms and use separate water fountains. The whites and blacks were separated at matinee movies. There are images that show lynching which reminds us of what brutal things used to go on. We were always forbid from places. The signs popped up everywhere. Everywhere you would turn would be a new sign forbidding you from somewhere or guiding you to a separate place.

There was a fight that happened aboard a train between African Americans and whites. The whites were kicked off the train and the African Americans were to be kicked off and sent to prison. There were nine of the men. On the train there were two women who claimed to be sexually abused. They weren’t sexually abused by the nine African American men but they claimed they were because they didn’t want to get in trouble for their sexual activity onboard so they agreed to testify against the nine men. They really had sexually relations with the white men that were kicked off the train earlier. The court convicted all of them and sentenced all of them to death except the youngest boy who was 12 years old. Supreme Court eventually overturned the convictions because they said the defendants didn’t receive adequate legal counsel. One of them was then retried again and reconvicted. That was then overturned again and Supreme Court ruled that the state had excluded African Americans from juries. There were many retrials after that and then eventually all of them died. I felt that this case was totally unfair. Just because they were African American and happened to be in the same place at that time, they were blamed for something that they didn’t do. Their lives were ruined because of the lie the two women told. I was very upset about this and I couldn’t believe that all of this was going on. It was disgracing to us that African Americans were being treated so badly. It wasn’t fair.
 * 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]

One of my relatives felt that their name was what made them unique. They felt that whites took away everything from us but they couldn’t take away our names or our heritage. Others felt that it was hard being treated the way we were treated. Another one of my relatives had to go through racist terms thrown at her and she felt that she shouldn’t be treated the way she is treated. My aunt went to college at a majorly white school. One of her white friends there invited her to her house for Thanksgiving. People kept asking her questions about her being African Americans. They were told stories about African Americans and taught they were bad people. People kept staring at her because they had never seen an African American before.