-+Jim+Crow+Questions


 * 1) 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?  This amendment granted citizenship to me once I became enslaved, and guaranteed that I would have the right to vote. We were promised "due process" which means that they would have to follow certain steps. Also that we would have "equal protection of the laws", or that our laws would be protected. **


 * 2) 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? I remember that Plessy was a 30 year old man who was light but was considered black despite his light complexion. He decided to sit in the white car on the train, and was jailed. Plessy's lawyer claims that the separate  car at violates the 13th and 14th amendments and I agree  . I still remember that his decision set the precedent that "separate" facilities for blacks and whites were in fact constitutional as long as they were "equal."  **
 *  3) 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 was claimed to be a old black slave who walked with difficulty, some say it was a ragged young stable boy, but we do know that Rice the singer intended him to be an highly  stereotypical black character. No Jim Crow did not write laws, it was just an offensive term for blacks.   **


 *  4) What are some specific examples of the Jim Crow laws from southern states? How did the laws affect you? I could not shake hands with a white man, I was not allowed to eat food near whites, I  wasn't allowed to display affections for people in public. Also I was never referred to as "mr." or "sir" but instead by my first name. Those are just some of the horrible laws that i had to live with. These laws affected me greatly because with these laws I was not able to live a normal life with respect and freedom.   **


 *  5) What did Jim Crow America look like in the 1900s? What are some images that can help explain the realities of the time? <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">All over the streets I would see nothing but either white or blacks. Whites can go here and black cannot. I would be working and watch the whites watch me. <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Everything was separated, there was pretty much two worlds in one.   **


 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;">6) What happened in the Scottsboro Case? How did it make you feel as an African American in the South? <span style="background-position: 100% 50%; color: #001ee6; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; padding-right: 10px;"> The Scottsboro boys were nine black boys who got charged for raping two white women in Alabama. They were on a train with other whit hobos and the train stopped, the white men were thrown off. Then dozens of armed men gathered them. They were about to be charged with assault and then the armed men found two white women with mens clothes on. Although there was no evidence connecting the black men to the white women, they were charged with rape. The trial was held against an all white jury, and they convicted them all guilty, and all but the youngest who was twelve, were sentenced to death. As an African American in the south I do not feel very safe anymore. I don't want to be killed for something I did not do. It left me scared and disrespected. **


 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> 7) Why should anyone care about your lilfe during Jim Crow America?<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> People should care about my life during Jim Crow America because it shows how much I was mistreated and disrespected in the past. I could not live a normal life, I had to wake up every morning knowing that nothing was going to come good out of that day. I would have to watch my friends and family be direspected and sometimes killed for something they <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> didn't do. This just shows how much better my life is today and how fast things can change for the good or the bad.   **