Examples of Jim Crow Laws
One example of a Jim Crow law was that all African Americans were separated in everyday places such as drinking fountains, restrooms, restraunts, etc. At this time white people stated that everyone was equal but we were separated, this was not true. Almost all African Americans were discriminated for example an African American school consisted of a small room of about 20 kids without desks and terrible education. For white people they had private schools the size of large houses with much supplies such as pencils, books, and great education.
“It shall be unlawful for a negro and white person to play together or in company with each other in any game of cards or dice, dominoes or checkers.”
Another example of a Jim Crow law was that African Americans were not allowed to vote. Many of the African Americans tried to vote but were stoped quickly by other white men. Those who were caught trying to vote were beaten, threatened, harmed, and sometime put their family in danger. For example, If a black man was driving to vote he could get pulled over by a cop and arrested for doing nothing, also once at the voting place the black man had to pass a test to be allowed to vote. This test was extremely hard for African American men and women to pass. If the African American man manages to pass the test and vote, the hardest part is not getting caught. As you can see voting for an African American was extremely difficult.
The Great Depression
The Great Depression was the deepest and longest lasting economic downturn in the western industrialized world. This began when the stock market crashed October 29, 1929. This sent Wall Street into a panic so they began to wipe out millions of investors. Also because of this, 13-15 million American citizens were unemployed and many banks were starting to fall. This effected the characters in "Roll of thunder hear my cry" because they were in the same situation with being treated unfairly. Accept in the story, they were treated unfairly because their race, not by losing their stocks and jobs. This made the characters feel sad about themselves and feel different than everyone else even though they aren't. Also the characters in "Roll of Thunder hear my cry" saw many bad things like the wallaces burning a black man, also the night men. As you can see the Great Depression effected many American citizens just like racism effected the characters in "Roll of Thunder hear my cry".
"If, with all the advantages I've got, I can't make a living... I'm just no good"
Abolishment of slavery
Back then, slavery was a huge issue with many (almost all) African Americans. African American slaves were treated very unfairly and most of the times abused and beaten. Also in the story "Roll of Thunder hear my cry" it says that “people who were making money bringing slaves from Africa preached that black people weren’t really people like white people were, so slavery was all right (Taylor 223).” This shows how little white people cared about the way they treated African American people, until one day Abraham Lincoln changed all of this. He said," And I hereby call upon the people so declared to be free to abstain from all violence, unless in necessary self-defense; and I recommend to them that, in all cases when allowed, they labor faithfully for reasonable wages." This made all African American slaves free at last. After being slaves for years and years they were finally free. This made African American people feel a sense of hope that things will soon be ok.
"Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." -The Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America"
Lynching
Lynching is a very sad thing that happend back then to mainly African American people. Lynching is when there is a mob of people meant to kill someone, especially by hanging. Lynching is usually without a legal trial. For example in the story "Roll of Thunder hear my cry" many black people were hung for small crimes without trial and Tj was almost hung also. In the story Tj was framed for something he didn't do, but because he was black, they automatically accused him of doing the crime without even wanting a trial. For example in the story it stated ,"I say what we oughta do is take him on down the road and take care of that big black giant of a n***** at the same time!” (Taylor 431). This shows how angry the mob of people were at Tj so they just wanted to kill him right away.
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Created with images by WikiImages - "woman children florence thompson" • Tony Fischer Photography - "The Causes of The Great Depression / FDR Memorial Site" • skeeze - "dust cloud vintage retro" • Travelwyse - "Dust Bowl travellers walking" • buckle1535 - "Great Depression" • KlausHausmann - "hands handcuffs tied up"