Masaryk university faculty of education

THE LIFE WITH JIM CROW LAWS

It is unimaginable for many people nowadays to understand deeply the differences in the way of living of colored people in the 20^th century. Their live conditions were worsened by economic instability of the new century, by the constantly establishing new Jim Crow laws and by the whole-South tendencies to favor white people in the times of crises. The aim of this second chapter is to give to the reader a bigger opportunity of comparison of his/her life to the life of the colored people in the past.

The following pages are based on the comparison of an ordinary day of 21 years old male student in the 21^st century with the life in the 20^th century. The structure of an imaginary day is primarily for the purpose of the demonstration of the laws. It is impossible to determine “an ordinary day” due to huge amount of the secondary conditions and circumstances that make each life, each Jim Crow story unique. Someone can feel that this day can be very close to the reality of his/her life. Simultaneously, this day can be absolutely different from the everyday realities for other people. The authenticity of the “Live with Jim Crow” is supported by addition of the real stories based on the similar situation. The authentic stories are retrieved from the oral history project Behind the Veil: Documenting African-American Life in the Jim Crow South.

The comparison contained in this chapter can be used as a supporting text for teachers of English. They will find comprehensive overview of the life of the Black people in the text which can be used for the creation of the activities in the classes or for the supporting background in their lectures.

The place of the action is situated in Alabama in a city rating more than 50 000 inhabitants. It is not essential to specify the city because the law in Alabama was valid for the whole state. The day will be transferred into 1952. This year was a peak of the segregation in this state. The following chapters are formed chronologically from the morning to the evening.

The imaginary “hero” in this description in the 21^st century is 22 years old Richard Davis, the Black men, who moved from the village to the town where he works and studies at the University. Richard lives in the city in a flat with 3 students and he earns money for the rent in the café restaurant where he works after school. He loves playing football and goes to pub or disco in his free time. He lives in the world where segregation is an unreal term and discrimination is illegal. In his future he wants to finish his studies and work as a lawyer. Next pages contain transformation of his life into 1952 in Alabama.

2.1. Morning: 6:00 – 11:45 a.m.

2.1.1. Morning in the 21^st century

Richard’s ordinary day starts at six in the morning when he gets up, prepares a breakfast and at 7 o’clock goes to the University by a bus. The travel to the school takes 15 minutes and he sits next to the young white woman in the front of the bus. Richard begins his classes with two lectures that last till 11:45. The teacher is an old experienced lawyer whose lessons are always a great experience for the students. The equipment of the school is new, the University is modern with own canteen, library, study rooms, technical support and dormitory. The study here is not easy but Richard is hardworking student. He passed the entrance exams as one of the best so his place between the students was certain. His best friend Stephen sits next to him. The comment that Stephen is white man is needless because in the 21^st century the color does not matter.

2.1.2. Morning in 1952

Richard’s day in 1952 could begin in the same way. He maybe would not live in a student apartment with 3 students but with more. After a breakfast he would go to school by bus and here, the first struggle would come. It was unthinkable to ride to school by integrated bus. The law from 1948 ordered precise process of getting on the bus and the rules in the bus. The bus was divided into two parts. The front door served for white people that could sit in the front of the bus. In the process of filling the bus they moved back in the bus. The back of the bus was for the Black people. They got on the bus by back doors and there were only few back seats reserved for them. If the bus was overcrowded they had to stand up and let white people sit on their places even if they bought the same ticket as white people.

As Ann S. Pointer says in her interview, if the bus was overcrowded too much, black people had to wait for another one. The story of Mrs. Pointer released by John Hope Franklin Research Center also describes the condition of schools in Alabama in Tuskegee. Commuting to school when she was young let bitter memories in her mind. Even though they paid taxes, the Black children were not allowed to go to school by school bus so they had to walk in every weather condition. She remembered how children from the bus “would ride and throw trash, throw rocks and everything at us on the road and whoop and holler, "nigger nigger nigger" all up and down the road.” According to her words, if they defended themselves, they would be arrested. (“Interview with Ann S. Pointer (btvct10098)”)

To sit in the front of the bus, next to the white person would have been a serious crime. What would happen if Richard sat in front of the bus and refused to leave? Probably he would pay very high fine and if he did not have money, he would go to a prison. He could end up as Rosa Parks.

Case: Rosa Parks

Even though there have been few people that refused to give up their seat for a white man before her, yet with Rosa Parks the fight for the Civil rights had started. Her story is notoriously known as one of the most famous stories. More impressive is the wave that her action has stirred up. Rosa Parks was born as well as Mrs. Pointer in Tuskegee in Alabama. She studied at High school in Montgomery, but her studies were interrupted by her grandmother’s illness. Rosa was a Civil rights activist and before her “famous day” she had an incident in 1943 in the buss with a driver. She refused to get off the front part of the bus and enter the part for the Black people. She rejected the way by bus at all rather than to give up, even though she paid her ticket. She started to work for NAACP and closely cooperated with the President of NAACP E.D. Nixon. (History.com Staff, “Rosa Parks”)

The day that made her famous through the world was on December 1^st 1955. Rosa went after a long day home from the job; she bought a ticket and sat in the section for colored people. Rosa remembers in the document Eyes on the prize that there was a white man standing so the driver moved the black section 4 seats back. These seats included also Rosa’s seat. She refused to stand up and move at that moment. Later she said that “People always say that I didn’t give up my seat because I was tired, but that isn’t true. I was not tired physically… No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving up. “ ("Rosa Parks." Bio, History.com Staff, “Rosa Parks”) Rosa also remembers her conversation with a policeman that came when she refused to give up the seats: “I asked him: Why do you push us around? He said: I don’t know, but the law is the law, and you are under arrest.” (“Awakenings”)

Rosa Parks was released on bail yet the same day, but she went to trial which found her guilty. However, the fight has begun. Refusal of giving up started the wave of the resistance known as the Montgomery bus boycott which will be described in the next chapter.

The day continues and Richard gets to his University. It is important to highlight some facts about an education during the Jim Crow era in Alabama. It was possible for colored people to attain an education 50 years ago but this opportunity was not for everyone. It was a rare exception to study at College because majority of people did not have finances to support their studies. (Interview with Kenneth B. Young and Mai Young (btvct11100))

The Universities were in the big cities so it could be difficult for people living in the plantation to attend courses at University. The problem could be the previous education, too. The education system for the Black students was on a very low level. Most of the Black people attended school and knew at least rudimentary basics but many of them did not continue at High school. The High schools for colored students were not equipped so well as the High schools for white students. Gordon Harvey shows in his article how big were differences in the education of the children from the landowners and sharecroppers families. “84 percent of landowners' children went to school, compared with only 58 percent of sharecroppers' children. “ (Harvey Gordon, “Public Education in the Early Twentieth Century“)

Mrs. Pointer spoke about the conditions in the school that were very poor for the Black children. If the father of the child did not bring wood for heating, the child would be sent out to look for some. Children also took care of the building and the proper lessons started approximately one month after they started to attend school. (“Interview with Ann S. Pointer (btvct10098)”)

Ira Lee Jones remembers in her story that at school for black pupils they had second handed books used first by white pupils. The pages were often tore out and missed. As she says, they called these books “the hand me downs“. (“Interview with Ira Lee Jones (btvct10133)“)

In Alabama in 1952 there were three colleges providing education for the Black students. They were: Bishop State Community College with two years study program, Concordia College which was privet and provided studies for four years and Miles College, a private school for four years. (Hill, Levirn. “The Rise and fall of Jim Crow: Interactive Maps”,)

Another difference in Richard’s day would be definitely his surrounding at the College. For sure his best friend would not be white a man and he would not sit next to him during the lecture. The history of the civil rights fight gives us many examples that show attempts to desegregate schools in the Southern states. Rosa Parks was the first who fought for the buss desegregation; almost one year later there was Autherine Lucy who became the first black student at the University of Alabama.

Case: Autherine Lucy

Autherine Lucy was the Black student; she studied at Selma University and graduated at Birmingham’s Miles with a bachelor degree. In 1952 she was accepted at University of Alabama together with her friend Pollie Ann Meyers. When the University realized that they accepted two Black girls, they did not allowed Pollie and Lucy to enroll. After 1954, when the Brown v. Board decision changed the national view on the segregation at schools, they could be enrolled from the federal judge’s decision. Because of her illegitimate pregnancy Pollie was not allowed to study at the University. Lucy was finally in 1956 part of the University and she could study here. But the fight was not over. ("Autherine Lucy" Bio)

“The document Exes on the Prize; Fighting Back” shows how deeply were the attitudes of white Alabama citizens rooted. The night when she arrived, angry people started to riot in the city. In respect to these events, on the third day of her study, the University suspended Lucy temporarily, as the University said “for her own protection”. But Lucy did not give up and sued the University. She defended her rights: “What is brought about these actions, I feel, is that lawless elements outside the campus set themselves over and above the law. Their actions were great discredit to our nation” (“Eyes on the Prize, Fighting back”)

Lucy was later expelled. The University justifies its decision claiming that Lucy “made false and baseless accusations about the schools”. The unbelievable fact is that the University changed their opinion on Lucy’s expulsion yet in 1988. Lucy started to attend again the University together with her daughter and she graduated in 1992, 40 years later from her enrolling at this University. ("Autherine Lucy." Bio.)

Of course that in history there can be found many other people struggling for the same aim as Lucy. They can be briefly mentioned. Donald G. Murray in Maryland demanded admission to the university of law in Maryland, the judge at the court admitted that Murray’s rejection was racism and “Murray became the first black graduate of the University's law school in 1938“ (Brown v. Board at Fifty: “With an Even Hand”) Thomas R. Hocutt was denied from School of Pharmacy in North Carolina. His case did not end well for Thomas due to unprovided transcript. George W. McLaurin wanted to raise his education in Oklahoma’s university. Even though he was allowed to take part in lessons, he was separated at least in the classroom. He sat on the opposite side from his white classmates. The entry to the University of Law in Texas was denied to Herman Sweatt. Also this case ended up at the Court and the Court decided that Sweatt should be admitted to the University. Nine members had the dispute in Little Rock High school. (Brown v. Board at Fifty: “With an Even Hand”) The most significant case in the desegregation was Brown v. Board education which will be dealt in the third chapter. The important fact is that it was unconstitutional to have school segregated after this case.

There were many attempts of the Black people to attain equal and not segregated education and services. Some of them became famous, some of them fell into obscurity, but their fight should be remembered for their bravery when they faced the whole nation and refused to give up.

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