Separate is NOT Equal

1. Separate is NOT Equal Questions and Answer

2. “All railroads carrying passengers in the state (other than street railroads) shall provide equal but separate accommodations for the white and colored races, by providing two or more passenger cars for each passenger train, or by dividing the cars by a partition, so as to secure separate accommodations.”—Tennessee, 1891 “Marriages are void when one party is a white person and the other is possessed of one-eighth or more negro, Japanese, or Chinese blood.”—Nebraska, 1911 “The Corporate Commission is hereby vested with power to require telephone companies in the State of Oklahoma to maintain separate booths for white and colored patrons when there is a demand for such separate booths.”—Oklahoma, 1915 “Any person . . . presenting for public acceptance or general information, arguments or suggestions in favor of social equality or of intermarriage between whites and negroes, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars or imprisonment not exceeding six months or both fine and imprisonment in the discretion of the court.”—Mississippi, 1920 “Any white woman who shall suffer or permit herself to be got with child by a negro or mulatto . . .shall be sentenced to the penitentiary for not less than eighteen months.”—Maryland, 1924 "No colored barber shall serve as a barber to white women or girls."—Atlanta, Georgia, 1926 “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.”—Birmingham, Alabama, 1930 What do you think might have led to the establishment of these laws in the South following the Civil War? What would it be like to live in a society where such laws were enforced? If you were a white person, how would these laws affect you? A black person? How do these laws compare to the rights guaranteed in the 13th , 14th , and 15th Amendments? What does the establishment of these laws reveal about the culture of the South at the end of the 19th and early 20th centuries? What words would you use to describe it? Jim Crow

3. The Five Communities • Compare and contrast the five cases. What do these five cases have in common? What is different? • What do these five cases reveal about the nature of segregation in America? • What do these five cases reveal about the different ways in which communities chose to confront segregation? • What is courage? Are there different types of courage? What kind of courage were the people involved in these cases demonstrating?

4. What is happening in this moment captured by the photographer? This picture was not a candid shot but rather a carefully posed photograph. Why do you think the photographer chose to pose these people in this particular way at this location? What other images would have made a good front-page picture in the newspapers on the day following the decision? Imagine that you are the mother in this picture. What might you be thinking? Consider what you might be thinking about yourself, your education, and the past, as well as your hopes for your daughter. If you were the woman pictured here, how would you explain the significance of the Supreme Court’s decision to a child who is too young to understand the complexities of legal terminology and the history of segregation? Landmark Decision

5. What is the author’s or illustrator’s response to the Supreme Court’s decision? What beliefs, attitudes, or customs are held by the author or artist? Where and when do you suppose this item was first published? What effect do you think articles, editorials, and cartoons like this one had on people’s opinions? Political Cartoons