Group items tagged

This PBS site about the Jim Crow era shows the very interesting side of how the Supreme Court basically had a crucial role in the establishment, maintenance and the end of Segregation and Jim Crow laws in the US. Presidents did not challenge these laws due in part that some of them agreed with the white supremacy ideology themselves. Congress was largely silent since they did not want to alienate the southern states again.

This webpage is part of an online exhibition on the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History website, titled "Separate Is Not Equal Brown v. Board of Education". Listed are a handful of Jim Crow laws that prohibited various interactions between white people and individuals of other races and ethnicities. These laws prohibited intermarriage, mandated separate facilities for travel and education, and even imposed jail time for women who carried the child of a black or mixed race man. In communities around the country property owners would sign a restrictive covenant that stated they promised not to sell their homes to individuals who were not white. The bus that Parks was arrested on belonged to a company that adhered to segregation laws. Living in a city as diverse as New York makes it so challenging for me to imagine that there was a time when people couldn't ride a bus together if they belonged to different racial groups. On any given day I find myself sitting or standing next to a variety of people from all kinds of ethnic and cultural background. Thank goodness for the Civil Rights movement and the activists that stood up for equality.

This article gives a good brief history of the Jim Crow laws passed around the united states after the civil war. I found it very interesting that right after the civil war, african americans had a great deal of freedoms in the south and only after the withdrawal of north's troops and a supreme court decision that blacks and whites could be "separate but equal" that the situation got inherently worse over the next twenty years. Not only segregation but voter limits as well as social mobility laws were passed which significantly affected civil rights based on white supremacy ideology.

This site has a few more examples of Jim Crow laws across various states in the US. It also has a reference to the timeline of the segregation period in the US. While we remember that there was segregation in the US, it is sometimes hard to imagine how restrictive this period was until we read examples of different laws in different places. All based on the supreme court statement of "Separate but Equal." When reading these laws, I couldn't help but think of all the restrictions that still exist these days on other communities.

I found another article regarding a woman who refused to give up her seat before Rosa Parks.  The article suggests that people like Irene Morgan Kirkaldy were one of the many people before Rosa Parks.  The article states that Kirkaldy refused to give up her seat more than 10 years before Rosa Parks.  I also like how the article is titled "Fighting Jim Crow Before Rosa Parks."  Transportation was also included in Jim Crow laws.  I am learning so many new things about American history as I do this assignment.  

This site and blog is relevant to our discussion on race and an analysis of the image at hand as it provides us with the background information of race in America and the influence that Rosa Parks had in this regard. Specifically, the site discusses the actions of Rosa Parks and the context in which she lived in how she challenged the Jim Crow Laws and how her actions helped spark the movement that would change American society and culture. The site also provides some background information on the famous photo that we are analyzing in this unit. The contextual and background information provided in this site is useful with our analysis in this unit.

This site explores the impact of the Jim Crow Laws. It starts by giving you a brief background about the civil rights movement. It divides the US up by regions and discusses the right of blacks in each area, which is helpful in understanding what it was like where Rosa lived. There are many examples included for each state on how the laws were implemented. In Alabama, all passenger bus stations in this state operated by any motor transportation company shall have separate waiting rooms or space and separate ticket windows for the white and colored races. This was on top of separate seating areas once aboard the bus.

It takes a lot of courage to stand up for something that is morally right, especially in a time when standing for what's right was not popular, due to the results that would follow after. Rosa Parks in the year of 1955, as many know it, kept sitting to stand up for what's right, and furthermore human rights. Although she was jailed and fined, her bravery helped society in many ways, like the end of the segregated transportation law posed by Jim Crow. Mrs. Parks did not care about the odds against her nor the criticism; in an era of ample bias against people of color. This sites content is useful in exploring week two's image of race in America, because it places focus on how change "can" happen with just one person, in the toughest of social times. A focus on courage not just for self help but for all (as Mrs. Parks was a member of the NAACP; an organization up in arms with the Jim Crow laws) who were the victims and the conscious or unconscious offenders, a social movement that was another zenith to the ascent of man. Heidi Beckles

This webpage is presented by PBS. It is a part of series produced by the organization. This webpage is not explicitly about Rosa Parks but it is still very relevant. This webpage presents "A Century of Segregation". It provides incredible background information about the history of our country and monumental events that occurred prior to Rosa Parks and the subsequent bus boycotts. The tabs are presented on a timeline and each tab, when clicked, provides more information such as "March on Washington", "Ku Klux Klan" and "Jackie Robinson". It's important to look at such historical events within a historical context because very seldom are these events isolated.

I personally did not think of how extensive civil rights arrest were.  Many of the civil rights arrests during the 1950s and 1960s went to trial.  Charles Langford was the lawyer who represented Rosa Parks.  I think many people think that people are arrested and then shortly released thereafter.  However, Jim Crow laws were very real and had serious offenses.  The article states that Fred D. Gray and Charles Langford were the only two black lawyers in Montgomery (Charles Langford, 84, Lawyer Who Represented Rosa Parks, Dies).