Jim Crow Laws

Many of the discriminatory Jim Crow laws were enacted to support racial segregation in everyday life. They required black and white people to use separate water fountains, public schools, public restrooms, restaurants, public libraries, buses and rail cars.

The term Jim Crow comes from the minstrel song “Jump Jim Crow" written in 1828 and performed by Thomas Dartmouth "Daddy" Rice, a white song and dance man, who first popularized Black Face. The song and blackface itself were an immediate hit. A caricature of a shabbily dressed rural black, "Jim Crow" became a standard character in minstrel shows.

Who was Jim Crow?

What happens if you break a law?

The Jim Crow Laws justified and perpetuated the use of lynching against African Americans, particularly by groups such as the Klu Klux Klan (KKK).

Founded by former Confederate soldiers after the Civil War(1861-1865) the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) used violence and intimidation to prevent blacks from voting, holding political office and attending school.

Strange FruitSouthern trees bear strange fruit,Blood on the leaves and blood at the root,Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze,Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.

Pastoral scene of the gallant south,The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth,Scent of magnolias, sweet and fresh,Then the sudden smell of burning flesh.

Here is fruit for the crows to pluck,For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck,For the sun to rot, for the trees to drop,Here is a strange and bitter crop.

Emmett Till• Emmett Till Clip

In August 1955, Mamie Till-Mobley of Chicago sent her only child, 14 year-old Emmett Louis Till, to visit relatives in the Mississippi Delta. Little did she know that only 8 days later, Emmett would be abducted from his Great-Uncle’s home, brutally beaten and murdered for one of the oldest Southern taboos: whistling at a white woman in public. The murderers were soon arrested but later acquitted of murder by an all-white, all-male jury.

To Kill A Mockingbird

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Harper Lee• As a child, Harper Lee was an unruly tomboy. She fought on the playground. She talked back to teachers. She was bored with school and resisted any sort of conformity.

The character of Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird would have liked her. In high school Lee was fortunate to have a gifted English teacher, Gladys Watson Burkett,

who introduced her to challenging literature and the rigors of writing well. Lee loved 19th-century British authors best, and once said that her ambition was to become

"the Jane Austen of south Alabama."

The Background

• The story is about a young girl named Scout who witnesses a town’s mistreatment of people.

• The story is told from the young girl’s point of view.

• The MAIN characters are good people witnessing prejudice.

• The young girl describes the prejudice honestly and at times descriptively.

• The language of the novel is at times vernacular – meaning that the language includes slang words and even derogatory words which were used by prejudiced people.

• Some of the prejudice described in the story includes:

white against black black against white

poor against rich rich against poor

girls against boys boys against girls

• The story describes the lifestyle of southern America in the post-Depression era of the late 1930s.

• The story describes the judicial system of Alabama and the country in the 1930s.

Scout Finch• Jean Louise “Scout”

Finch - • Narrator of the story• Almost 6 when the story

starts• Lively, intelligent girl (taught

herself to read very young).• Strong will and a quick

temper• Tom-boy, prefers to hang out

with Jem and Dill instead of girls.

• Very open-minded

Atticus Finch

• Lawyer in Maycomb, Alabama

• Widower raising 2 children

• Modest and tactful, very respected community member.

• Demands honesty and courtesy from his children

Jeremy Atticus “Jem” Finch

• Scouts older brother• Tries to act like

Atticus-is calm and reasonable

• Usually restrains his anger, but sometimes loosed control of it

Charles Baker “Dill” Harris

• Friend of Jem and Scout

• Comes to Maycomb each summer to stay with his Aunt Rachel

• Has no father, feels un-wanted and un-loved by his mother

• Very charismatic

Arthur “Boo” Radley

• Neighbor to the Finch’s-mostley known due to rumors

• Has not been seen outdoors since he was a teenager

Bob Ewell

• Poor Farmer and widower

• Makes no attempt to be a good person- spends all of his welfare on alcohol

• Abuses his children

Mayella Ewell

• Bob Ewell’s 19 year old daughter

• Raises her younger brothers and sisters

• Lonely• Uneducated

Tom Robinson

• Black man accused of raping a white woman

• Has a wife and children

• Helpful and kind

Supporting Characters

• Aunt Alexandria- Atticus’s younger sister- comes to help raise Scout

• Miss Maudie- Children’s favorite neighbor, supports Atticus

• Calpurnia- The Finch’s cook. Acts as a mother figure.

• Link Dees- Tom Robinson’s employer. Shows that some people are not prejudice.

• Mrs. Dubose- An elderly, ill-tempered, racist woman who lives near the Finches.

• Nathan Radley- Boo Radley’s older brother

Supporting Characters

• Heck Tate- Sheriff of Maycomb, AL.

• Mr. Underwood- Journalist and publisher of the town’s newspaper

• Mr. Dolphus Raymond-white man who has a black wife and “mixed” children. Seen as the town drunk.

• Mr. Walter Cunningham-poor farmer. Is seen as part of the lynch mob, but shows his human qualities.

• Walter Cunningham- classmate of scouts who cannot afford to buy lunch.