The Jim Crow Era
Decades after slavery ended, African Americans were still being discriminated against. Today, you will analyze the African American experience from after the Civil War to the 1960s when the Civil Rights era began.
Methods of Discriminating Against African Americans
Despite being free after the Civil War, African Americans still faced hardships through legal discrimination. Below are the ways African Americans were made unequal under the law:
1. Plessy vs. Ferguson (1896): U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding racial segregation even in public accommodations (particularly railroads).Established the “Separate but Equal“ doctrine. This led to "Colored Only" sections of public places.
2. Disenfranchisement: African Americans were prevented in a few ways from voting.
•Literacy Tests: These tests were given at voting polls that required citizens be able to read before they could vot
•Poll Taxes: must pay a tax in order to vote. (outlawed by 24th amendment)
Question 1: How would preventing someone from voting through literacy tests and poll taxes hurt African Americans?
•Grandfather Clauses: an exception that allows an old rule to continue to apply to some existing situations, if a man's grandfather could vote, then he could vote even if the man could not read or pay the tax.
Question 2: How would a Grandfather Clause help some white men be able to vote while stopping some African American males from voting?
1. Plessy vs. Ferguson (1896): U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding racial segregation even in public accommodations (particularly railroads).Established the “Separate but Equal“ doctrine. This led to "Colored Only" sections of public places.
2. Disenfranchisement: African Americans were prevented in a few ways from voting.
•Literacy Tests: These tests were given at voting polls that required citizens be able to read before they could vot
•Poll Taxes: must pay a tax in order to vote. (outlawed by 24th amendment)
Question 1: How would preventing someone from voting through literacy tests and poll taxes hurt African Americans?
•Grandfather Clauses: an exception that allows an old rule to continue to apply to some existing situations, if a man's grandfather could vote, then he could vote even if the man could not read or pay the tax.
Question 2: How would a Grandfather Clause help some white men be able to vote while stopping some African American males from voting?
Case Study: Lynching
•Nationwide lynching: to murder by a mob, usually by hanging; 1st used by KKK to reverse social changes of Fed. occupation and cont’d. during Jim Crow era and 1900s to fight off the Civil Right Movement
Directions: Use the graphs on the side to answer the following questions about lynching in the U.S. Question 3. According to the charts, name five states where lynching was most prevalent in the United States in the early 1900s. Question 4. Why do you think lynching was most popular in the areas where it was the greatest? Question 5. Why do you think police forces never stopped this violence? |
Case Study: Emmett Till
Read the following article from Jet's magazine about Emmett Till, a 12 year old boy killed by a white mob in 1955.
Question 11: Write a two sentence summary about who Till was and what happened to him Question 12: What sources of information does Jet use to describe the murder if Emmett Till? Question 13: What is Jet's bias or perspective of Till's death? Question 14: Why did Till's mother want an open casket for Till? Question 15: What is the author's purpose for writing this article? Give one sentence. |
Case Study: The KKK
During the time period, the Ku Klux Klan, a terrorist group dedicated to racial purity began to become powerful. At its peak it had millions of members. Analyze the following images and answer the following questions.
Case Study: Rodney King Beating
Rodney Glen King (April 2, 1965 – June 17, 2012) was an African-American construction worker and serial criminal who became nationally known after being beaten byLos Angeles police officers, following a high-speed car chase on March 3, 1991. A local witness, George Holliday, videotaped much of it from his balcony.
The footage shows five officers surrounding King, several of them striking him repeatedly, while other officers stood by. Part of the footage was aired around the world, inflaming outrage in cities where racial tension was high, and raising public concern about police treatment of minorities.
The footage shows five officers surrounding King, several of them striking him repeatedly, while other officers stood by. Part of the footage was aired around the world, inflaming outrage in cities where racial tension was high, and raising public concern about police treatment of minorities.