Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry Language Arts

“Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry” Language Arts Getting Started Day 3

Vocabulary

Racism • the hatred of one person by another or the belief that another person is less than human – because of skin color, language, customs, place of birth or any factor that supposedly reveals the basic nature of that person. • It has influenced wars, slavery, the formation of nations, and legal codes.

• After the American Civil War most states in the South passed anti-African American legislation. These became known as The Jim Crow laws.

Jim Crow Laws • were state and local laws in the United States enacted between 1876 and 1965 which mandated racial segregation in all public facilities. – “Separate but equal" status for black Americans.

“Separate but Equal"

Sharecropping • landowners divided plantations into 20 to 50 acre plots, suitable for farming by a single family. • In exchange for land, a cabin, and supplies, sharecroppers agreed to raise a cash crop (usually cotton) and to give half the crop or a share of the profit produced on the land to their landlord.

40 Acre Cotton Field

Lynch • Lynch - To put to death without legal authority • Lynch mob – a group of people (mob) that carried out illegal violence or killings.

Civil Rights Act • In 1964, President, Lyndon B Johnson, persuade Congress to pass the Civil Rights Act. • This made racial discrimination in public places, such as theaters, restaurants and hotels, illegal. It also required employers to provide equal employment opportunities.

The End.