The Term “Jim Crow”

Was named after a 19th-century minstrel song that stereotyped African Americans. After the year 1900, the term “Jim Crow” identified the racial oppression and segregation of the blacks that took place in the United States. The case Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896 upheld segregation. In 1892, Homer Plessy was arrested and jailed for neglecting the Separate Car Act by sitting in the “white” car. Although Plessy had a light complexion due to his ancestry, he was still considered black. The “separate but equal” saying resulted from the Plessy decision, which stated how having separate facilities for blacks and whites were constitutional as long as they were “equal”.

Booker T. Washington was an educator, reformer and the most influential black leader from 1856 to 1915. He encouraged blacks to accept the racial discrimination and urged them to elevate themselves through hard work, oppose to W.E.B. Du Bois, who advocated for political action and immediate change.

The Harlem Renaissance was a time period from the 1910s through the mid-1930s where the development of African American culture bloomed.

During this time period, the development of the Harlem neighborhood in the northern section of New York City brought forth a plethora of artists and scholars and was known for its cultural explosion. During this renaissance, African American literature, music, and many other artistries were able to manifest and evolve into what it is today. Two artists associated with the movement are Louis Armstrong, who was a jazz performer, and Meta Warrick Fuller, who was a sculptor. This movement gave refuge to many African Americans who sought an escape from the oppression and segregation of Jim Crow.

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Southern black people tried to resist and escape the Jim crow laws by fleeing to Harlem in New York, where they had the freedom to pursue their own culture and life without the restraining Jim Crow laws. The Great Depression and the Dust Bowl The Great Depression was a period of slow business and an economic crisis had taken place in the United States and other countries as well. It began October 29, 1929-1939. Some causes of the Great Depression were overproduction, there was a rising gap between the rich and the poor, and there were problems with agriculture. Black Thursday was a day when people were in a panic because of investors selling off vast amounts of their stocks. Also, 30 million dollars were invested to stabilize markets on this day during the Great Depression. Black Thursday was on October 24, 1929.

The New Deal was introduced by President Roosevelt during the Great Depression. By making new laws and programs, Roosevelt thought that by doing this, it would create jobs and improve the economy. The Dust Bowl lasted ten years in the 1930s due to a severe drought, high heat and winds, and poor farming techniques. This was a problem because the soil was so dry that it was blown away in large clouds of dust. Colorado, Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico were hit the hardest by the Dust Bowl. Many of the people in these areas were ill and died from dust pneumonia. During the Dust Bowl, many people moved to California. Once in California, the people faced poverty with not many jobs, discrimination, and poor living conditions. Scottsboro Boys

The Scottsboro Boys were a group of nine African American teenage boys who were accused of raping two white girls on March 25, 1931. One of the attorneys was a 70-year-old local attorney who hadn’t been on a case in a very long time. The other attorney was an unprepared real estate attorney who was drunk on the first day of the trial. The trial was unfair because the local newspaper had already made the conclusion of the trial before it even began. Also, six of the boys were pressured into confessing for a crime that they didn’t even commit. Another reason for why the trial was unfair was because, in that society, whites were seen as normal or superior to blacks, so favor was towards the white girls.

The lives of the nine boys were saved, but it took about twenty years for the last boy to be freed from prison. The society’s reaction to this was by Communists and radicals creating a mass movement of black and white people to successfully defeat the Jim Crow Laws. The trial in Harper Lee’s book may have been influenced by the Scottsboro Boys trial and the characters may have committed the same crime. Also, the theme of racism may have been highlighted throughout the book due to how the court trial involved 9 black teenagers and 2 white girls. The Scottsboro Boys trial relates to the trial in the book are related since both are defending white women from black rapists.

Harper Lee Harper Lee was born in Monroeville, Alabama on April 28th of 1926. Lee’s family consisted of her father, a lawyer, her mother, who suffered from a mental illness, and her four older siblings. As a child, Harper Lee was a tomboy and took an interest in English literature. Harper Lee’s childhood best friend was Truman Capote. Lee served as Truman’s guardian by protecting Truman from his bullies. The character Dill Harris was based on Truman Capote.

One similarity between Harper Lee and Scout Finch’s childhood is how both their fathers acquired jobs involving the law (Lee’s father was a lawyer and Finch’s father is an attorney). In addition, both Lee and Finch were born in Alabama since the book was based on a small town in Alamaba. Another similarity between them is how both were advanced in literature at a young age. Harper Lee was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her contribution to literature through her book To Kill A Mocking Bird, and how the book addressed the struggle for equality. Lee’s only novel, To Kill A Mocking Bird, is ranked as the top-selling novel of all times by the Guinness Book of World Records and even won the Pulitzer Prize in 1961.