Age Population: Grades K- 12 

Introduction:

More than 400 state laws, constitutional amendments, and city ordinances legalizing segregation and discrimination were passed in the United States between 1865 and 1967. These laws governed nearly every aspect of daily life, from education, to public transportation, from health care and housing to the use of public facilities and voter’s rights. African-American children experienced racial discrimination firsthand when they found themselves barred from attending school with white children. Instead, they were sent to inferior facilities.

In September 1949, only 15 states had no segregation laws in effect. These included Connecticut, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin. Of the remaining states, 30 states prohibited mixed marriages and "race mixing." Twenty states proscribed separate schools for blacks and whites. Fourteen states permitted or required separate railroad accommodations.  In the same month of 1949, only 18 states had laws prohibiting discrimination in places of public accommodation.

While the majority of Jim Crow laws discriminated specifically against African Americans, other minority groups also were frequently targeted. Western states routinely passed discriminatory legislation against Asians and Native Americans, passing 51 Jim Crow laws, 12 percent of the nation's total. Outside the South, California passed more Jim Crow laws (17) than any other state in the country*.

This historically based overview of the life of African-Americans during 1949 refers to information on Jim Crow Laws and The Voter’s Rights Act of 1965.  Some of the presentation will be provided in a question and answer format that is appropriate for each age group.  

 *http://www.jimcrowhistory.org/resources/lessonplans/hs_es_jim_crow_laws.htm

Prior to the Civil Rights Movement, the eastern seaboard was divided by racial and class lines that can be studied by looking at Jim Crow Laws and voting rights.  As a result of the 13^th, 14^th and 15^th amendments, African Americans gained freedom, citizenship, and the right to vote in this country.  Although these amendments proclaimed equal entitlement, actions by the U.S. proved that those rights were not guaranteed.  Slave codes translated into black codes, and Jim Crow segregation made it impossible for African Americans to be truly free in America.  Strategies such as poll taxes, literacy tests, and white primaries limited the power of the black ballot.  Additionally, organizations like the Ku Klux Klan did everything in their power to keep African Americans socially, economically and politically oppressed.

The Civil Rights movement fought to disband the injustices placed on African Americans during the early 1900’s.  The NAACP, CORE, and SNCC fought for both integration and the right to exercise voting privileges.  Prominent leaders such as W.E.B. DuBois, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X emerged demanding civil rights for African Americans.  As a result of this movement, the Voter’s Rights Act of 1965 was passed.  The Civil Rights movement not only protected the right to vote for African Americans, it also aggressively pursued those who attempted to deny any citizen those rights. 

http://www.jodyb.net/school/literacy-b.html 

http://www/nps.gov/malu/documents/jim_crow_laws.htm 

http://www.voterights.org/literacy.html 

http://www.ferris.edu/news/jimcrow/who.htm

Objectives: 

1.      To teach participants about the social status, enforced by law, imposed on African American citizens as the result of racist ideology in this country during 1949. 

2.      To give a historical perspective on Jim Crow and Voter’s Rights laws in a learning format appropriate for grades K-12.                       

3.      To give an overview of the changes which the Civil Rights Movement brought about for African Americans and the nation. 

Methodology: 

o       Participants will be given questions from literacy tests designed for African Americans prior to the 1965 Voter’s Rights Act. 

o       Classes will then be randomly divided into two groups and designated a race and class  (white upper/lower, black upper/lower) that illustrates the hierarchy of the class and racial structure in American society in 1949.

The white upper class can change the status of all players below them, while the white lower class can organize and change the rules of a game to their advantage.  The black upper can select the games and their players.  The black lower class can only influence the selection to teams and their value to winning the game.  The three games to be played will be Simon Says, Tick Tack Toe and Hop Scotch. 

o       The participants will be asked the following questions:

Would you play if the odds were that you would never win?

How do you feel as the result of your racial designation?

Can you see how racial tension escalates between races? 

The activity will be followed by a review as well as a brief overview on the impact of the Civil Rights movement on segregation.

Fee Structure:

The cost of each program is as follows:

Educational group program I for 20 participants or fewer - $25.

Educational group program II for 30 participants - $35.

Educational group program III for over 30 participants, but fewer than 60 - $45.