Masaryk university faculty of education

Midday 11:45 a.m. – afternoon 18:00 p.m.

2.2.1. Midday in the 21^st century

After the end of the lessons Richard goes to the university canteen, where he has a lunch with his friends. After his lunch he goes to the library that belongs to the university and he helps to find a book to Stephen which he had returned few days ago. They study here until 1 p.m. and then they go to their last lecture of that day. When the class is over Richard gets on the streetcar with everyone and hurries to his part time job in the local café bar. Richard reads newspaper with a headline speculating about the result of the presidential election during the journey. Richard is thinking about his favorite candidate and he hopes that he will convince Stephen to vote with him for the same candidate. Richard loves his job because he meets here a lot of interesting people and foreigners from whole world, plus he earns money for his studies in the city that are big-ticket. Today he has got very short shift but normally he works 4-6 hours.

2. Midday in 1952

For the authenticity of the statements it will be considered that Richard could attend for example Selma University. After his lessons Richard could go for the lunch with his friends because the Dining Hall at the university was established in 1953. As mentioned above, the condition of the education was not very propitious and ideal but the conditions in the segregated schools for the Black students were on much lower level than schools for white students. It was common that schools for white children got higher grants than schools for the Black students. Selma University in 1952 did not have own library. The library was established in 1960 so it was impossible to borrow any books here. (“Selma University (The History and Heritage)”) The only possibility where to borrow books was in the Selma public library. According to Patterson Toby Graham was the library in Selma integrated in 1963 “as a result of civil rights activity and of the efforts of southern librarian”. (125) Even in this part of life is the difference in the lifestyle obvious. The set of Jim Crow laws listed above cannot show how different was the segregated life. The simulation of the reality in every minute of the life can be much more attesting.

The journey to his job would not be so different than in the 21^st century. The Jim Crow law in Alabama spoke about the streetcars clearly: “All railroads carrying passengers in this state, other than street railroads, shall provide equal but separate accommodations” (Murray, Pauli. “The Rise and fall of Jim Crow: Interactive Maps”)

Roger’s plans about elections would be definitely different.

Case: Elections and the disenfranchisement in Alabama

One of the means that prevented colored people and poor whites from voting was the establishing of the poll tax. This tax was not the only way; when people paid the poll tax, they had to pass “Literacy test” which was usually very difficult and it was very hard to pass it. The last possibility how to reach disenfranchisement was an intimidation and threats. All these actions worked very effectively together. As Woodward shows, when he compares voter turnout from the Reconstruction period and post-Reconstruction period, the turnout decreased rapidly. (Woodward 84, 85)

The difficulty of the test was set on very high level of knowledge as the example at pbs shows. In the example of the Literacy test from Alabama in 1965 there are 68 detailed questions requiring an elaborate knowledge of the political events and structure of the legislative:

42. The only laws which can be passed to apply an area in a federal arsenal are those passed by _________________ provided consent for the purchase of the land is given is given by the __________________.

62. If a person flees from justice into another state, who has the authority to ask for his return?

63. Whose duty is to keep Congress informed of the state of the union?

64. If the two houses of Congress cannot agree on adjournment (“1965 Alabama Literacy test”, pbs.org)

In her interview Mrs. Jones describes the situation after “all the Martin Luther King business”. She was registered voter in Gadsden, Alabama in 1961 and her experience with voting is quite positive. During her registration there was a poll watcher that supervised the course and secured the fairness of the questions. She mentioned that before the civil rights movement “they would ask you to almost recite the Constitution of the United States”. (Interview with Ira Lee Jones (btvct10133))

Alberta Taylor Wilson says that “I started voting in 50´-something… you had to answer many questions before you could vote…. They didn’t want us vote.” (“Interview with Alberta Taylor Wilson (btvct02028)”)

Even though the restrictions were strict, it was not difficult to register in several places, as the interview with Mrs. Pointer reveals. When she finished a High school, she went to register to vote and “they said all right”. The process dispensed with any literacy test or intimidation. The surprising fact is that despite of the easiness of the process; she was the only registered Black person. At the instigation of her English teacher she started to encourage people to vote. (“Interview with Ann S. Pointer (btvct10098)”)

The registration problems were in 1965 made unconstitutional by the Voting Rights Act which was the peak of the fight for the integration. (Woodward 186)

The continuation of the day is also questionable. If the fact that there was a different infrastructure of the job possibilities is omitted, the only possibility where to work was in the segregated restaurants. It was usual that the Black people have worked in the restaurants but in the times of the segregation were the Black people considered to be inferior and white people did not speak with them. The interesting fact is that the Black people often worked in restaurants but the restaurant had mostly a white owner. (“Interview with Charles Austin Gratton (btvct02026)”)

It was more complicated to be served for the Black people from the point of view of a customer. Mrs. Blanche Davis in her interview describes that it was difficult to be served by the restaurants during their trip to New Orleans. They had to carry big rucksack where they had got the food because there were few restaurants where they would let them sit in the back seat.(“Interview with Blanche Davis (btvct02022)”) Also Mr. Gratton speaks about the restaurants from the point of view of a customer. He mentions that if he wanted a meal in the separate or white restaurant, there was an option. People had to go “back side of somebody handing what they ordered from a little hand-out window”. (“Interview with Charles Austin Gratton (btvct02026)”)

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