Lesson One: Black and White Worlds

Objective:
Using group brainstorming, historical fiction, and eyewitness interviews, students will gain an understanding of de jure and
de facto segregation in Mississippi. They will also perform a close reading of an excerpt from Anne Moody’s autobiography
Coming of Age in Mississippi and (if time allows) compare it to Kathryn Stockett’s fictional The Help.

Materials: Mississippi Civil Rights Map and Timeline; De jure and De facto Segregation; Segregation Images; Journal One:
Ask Yourself; Separate but Not Equal; graphing calculator; Excerpt from Coming of Age in Mississippi by Anne Moody;
Excerpt from The Help by Kathryn Stockett.

Procedures:

Activity One: Student Folders

1. Have students designate a folder to hold all their handouts and journal entries from the Civil Rights in Mississippi
Teaching Unit. Upon completion, students may be graded the entire body of work related to the topic.
2. Distribute the Mississippi Civil Rights Map and Timeline which the students should add to during each day of the unit.
3. The information collected will be used on the final day of the unit to construct a class timeline and map of civil rights
events.

Activity Two: Separate but Equal

1. Distribute De jure and De facto Segregation. If possible, project or draw the bubble map on the board.
2. Discuss the Segregation Images as a class and ask what students know about Jim Crow laws.
3. Brainstorm aloud to collect the most knowledge possible. Some examples include:
a. Private business could refuse services to anyone.
b. Separate entrances (if not separate facilities) for schools, libraries, hospitals, restaurants, depots, restrooms, etc.
c. African American passengers would pay for a bus ride at the front of the bus, exit, and reenter through the back
door.
d. Interracial marriage brought a $500 fine and/or up to ten years in prison.
e. Circulating any writings or materials that promoted the idea that racial integration was illegal.
4. Define and identify de jure and de facto segregation.
5. Students will answer the questions in Journal One: Ask Yourself individually before discussing them aloud.

Activity Three: Separate but Not Equal

1. Secure enough calculators to go around the class and pass them out to students with graphing paper. Half should be
the best graphing calculators available at the school and the other half should be standard four-function calculators.
Choose students in any fashion, i.e. shirt color, hair length, height, etc.
2. Explain to students that “separate but equal” was not always the case, especially in schools. In many cases, African
American students were at a disadvantage due to poor funding, lack of materials, and other obstacles.
3. Write this problem on the board: “Solve the system of equations. Y = - 2x + 9 and y = 3x – 4”
a. Walk students through the steps on the Separate but Not Equal worksheet (also found at http://mathbits.com/
MathBits/TISection/Algebra1/systems.htm).
b. When half the class finishes, swap the calculators and explain the problem again. Ask students how much easier
it was to learn the problem with the graphing calculators.
4. Explain that during segregation, many students faced similar troubles in all subjects. Some students, such as Martin
Luther King, Jr., learned despite disadvantages, but many were discouraged and simply gave up in frustration. Ask
which students believe they would have pursued an education. Who worked to solve the math problem without the
calculator?
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Copyright 2014. Mississippi Department of Archives and History.

Activity Four: Coming of Age in Mississippi
1. Distribute the Excerpt from Coming of Age in Mississippi by Anne Moody to the class and conduct a close reading of
the text.
2. Before reading aloud, explain that this excerpt is from an autobiographical account of a young woman from Mississippi
who became active in the Civil Rights Movement. In this excerpt, Anne (Essie Mae) recalls a childhood friendship with
her white neighbors. Note: Coming of Age in Mississippi is a powerful first-hand account of an African American
civil rights worker from Mississippi. If desired or if time allows, additional excerpts of the book or the entire text may
be read, reviewed, and discussed by students. Please be aware that while the included excerpt is appropriate for all
grade levels, the book does contain some strong language and should be previewed by teachers.
3. Allow students to discuss their impressions of the text. You may also discuss the motivations of the characters, the type
of segregation within the excerpt (de jure or de facto), and the differences between fictional, non-fictional, and first-
hand accounts. If time allows, compare this excerpt with that of The Help in the Extension Activity.

Extension Activity: The Help

1. Distribute Excerpt from The Help by Kathryn Stockett to the class and conduct a close reading of the text.
2. Before reading aloud, explain that this excerpt is from a historical fiction chronicling the lives of African American
maids in 1962 Mississippi. In this excerpt, Minny recalls dropping out of school at fourteen to begin working for a
white family.
3. You may also discuss the differences between fictional, non-fictional, and first-hand accounts or the perspective of a
white author writing in 2009 with that of an African American author writing in 1968.

Extension Activity: Speak Now!

1. Listen to memories of the Civil Rights Movement in the Mississippi Department of Archives and History’s Speak Now:
Memories of the Civil Rights Era Digital Archives at http://mdah.ms.gov/arrec/digital_archives/speaknow/ The twenty-
five speakers include:
• Harold E. Hollman, a Jackson transplant and business owner who’s civil rights sympathies made him a target for
persecution by the Ku Klux Klan (run time 11:11)
• Thomas Armstrong, who remembers his first awareness of segregation at age 13, his experience as a Freedom
Rider, and subsequent arrest and trial (run time 12:42)
• Flonzie Brown Wright, who first became inspired by the Civil Rights Movement during the Biloxi wade-ins and
then worked on voter registration throughout the state before being becoming an Election Commissioner in 1968
(run time 17:58)
• John Hardy and Barrett Hatches, childhood friends who grew up a block apart in Jackson and who’s memories
of arrested Freedom Riders, police dogs, and fire hoses inspired them during high school in the early days of
integration in the early 1970s and later in their adult lives (run time 12:28)
2. If time allows, students should interview someone they know who remembers segregation or is knowledgeable of the
era. Students may then present what they learned from their interviewee to the class and/or turn in written interview
notes.

Copyright 2014. Mississippi Department of Archives and History.

NAME: ____________________________________________________________________ DATE: ________________

Mississippi Civil Rights Map

Label the map and timeline with civil rights related locations and events covered during the class activities and
discussions.

Copyright 2014. Mississippi Department of Archives and History.

 NAME: ________________________________________________________________________________ DATE: _________________________

Mississippi Civil Rights Timeline

‘62
‘58

‘66
‘60
‘56
‘54
‘52

‘64
‘50
‘48

1968
1946

Copyright 2014. Mississippi Department of Archives and History.

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Segregation Images

Colored entry signs from a Greenville doctor’s office (left) and a downtown Vicksburg business (right). MDAH, Museum Division
Collections.

An African American man enters a colored waiting room at

Trailways Bus Station. MDAH, Archives and Records Services.

The entryway to a separate State Fair for African Americans.

MDAH, Archives and Records Services.

Copyright 2014. Mississippi Department of Archives and History.

Separate but Not Equal
Use the following directions to help students solve systems of equations using a TI-83+/84+ graphing
calcualtor. They may also be found on the MathBits website at http://mathbits.com/MathBits/TISection/
Algebra1/systems.htm

Copyright 2014. Mississippi Department of Archives and History.

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Copyright 2014. Mississippi Department of Archives and History.

NAME: ____________________________________________________________________ DATE: ________________

De jure and De facto Segregation

Using images of segregation, the definitions below, and other resources (such as books or the internet), complete
the bubble map with examples of segregation. Label each as de jure or de facto segregation.

De jure: Latin expression for “concerning law.” In the 1950’s, southern states had been practicing de jure
segregation since 1876 and the establishment of the Jim Crow Laws. In 1896, the US Supreme Court had ruled
in Plessy v. Fergusson that such laws were constitutionally a state’s right to enforce. Therefore, southern towns
developed under the mantra of “separate but equal” or legal segregation.

De facto: Latin expression for “concerning fact.” While northern states did not have legal segregation in the
1950’s, many areas still practiced de facto segregation, where there is no law against segregation, but where by
custom, venues are largely segregated.

Segregation

Copyright 2014. Mississippi Department of Archives and History.

De jure and De facto Segregation Answer Key
Examples of De jure Segregation:
Public schools and colleges/universities
Separate facilities for waiting rooms, restrooms, and drinking fountains
Interracial couples not being allowed to marry
Separate military units for whites and African Americans

Examples of De facto Segregation:

Neighborhoods defined by race or ethnicity
Businesses that refuse to service a particular race
African Americans having to sit at the back of the bus
African Americans having to give up their seat or make way for white individuals
The custom of whites of referring to African Americans (of any age) by their first name or “boy”
African Americans not being allowed to vote because they couldn’t pay a poll tax

Note to Teacher: This activity can also be expanded into segregation faced by other minorities such as women,
Native Americans, or homosexuals. Possible topics of conversation include:

De jure Segregation:
Native American reservations
Homosexuals not being allowed in the military

De facto Segregation:
Female military servicemembers not being allowed into combat areas
Neighborhoods defined by race or ethnicity
Clubs or community groups supporting a single race or ethnicity
Students in an integrated school choosing to eat lunch with individuals of their own race, ethnicity, or gender

Copyright 2014. Mississippi Department of Archives and History.

NAME: ____________________________________________________________________ DATE: ________________

Journal One: Ask Yourself

1. What are examples of present-day de facto segregation? Where might you go and see only one type of
people?

2. As late as the 1990’s, a theater in Philadelphia, Mississippi, practiced segregation with seating. White people
sat on the lower floor while African Americans and the local Choctaw population sat in the balcony. In
addition, some Mississippi high schools have found their way into in headlines since 2000 with segregated
proms. The school would sponsor one, which no white children attended, while parents sponsored another
and discouraged African American students from attending. Is this practiced at your school? How do you
feel about either of these situations? Why have these practices lasted for decades after de jure segregation
ended?

3. In 2012, Augusta National Golf Club, a private country club in Georgia, decided to welcome two female
members after eighty years of only accepting men. Some private clubs (possibly in your community) are
still strictly male or female. A gym, perhaps, may be female-only because some women may feel more
comfortable exercising without men. Do you feel this form of segregation is acceptable? Is this the same as
racial segregation?

4. Do you know of any buildings that still bear the reminders of segregation, such as having separate entrances
or separate restrooms, etc? Explain.

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Copyright 2014. Mississippi Department of Archives and History.

Excerpt from Coming of Age in Mississippi by Anne Moody

There was a wide trench running from the street alongside our house. It separated our house and the
Johnsons’ place from a big two-story house up on the hill. A big pecan tree grew on our side of the trench, and we
[my younger brother and sister and myself] made our playhouse under it so we could sit in the trench and watch
those white children without their knowing we were actually out there staring at them. Our playhouse consisted of
two apple crates and a tin can that we sat on.
One day when the white children were riding up and down the street on their bikes, we were sitting on
the apple crates making Indian noises and beating the tin can with sticks. We sounded so much like Indians that
they came over to ask if that was what we were. This was the beginning of our friendship. We taught them how to
make sounds and dance like Indians and they showed us how to ride their bikes and skate. Actually, I was the only
one who learned. Adline and Junior were too small and too scared, although they got a kick out of watching us.
I was seven Adline five, and Junior three, and this was the first time we had ever had other children to play with.
Sometimes, they would take us over to their playhouse. Katie and Bill, the children of the whites that owned the
furniture store, had a model playhouse at the side of their parents’ house. That little house was just like the big house,
painted snow white on the outside, with real furniture in it. I envied their playhouse more than I did their bikes and
skates. Here they were playing in a house that was nicer than any house I could have dreamed of living in. They had
all this to offer me and I had nothing to offer them but the field of clover in summer and the apple crates under the
pecan tree.
The Christmas after we moved there, I thought sure Mama would get us some skates. But she didn’t. We
didn’t get anything but a couple of apples and oranges. I cried a week for those skates, I remember.
Every Saturday evening Mama would take us to the movies. The Negroes sat upstairs in the balcony and
whites sat downstairs. One Saturday we arrived at the movies at the same time as the white children. When we saw
each other, we ran and met. Katie walked straight into the downstairs lobby and Adline, Junior, and I followed.
Mama was talking to one of the white women and didn’t notice that we had walked into the white lobby. I think she
thought we were at the side entrance we had always used which led to the balcony. We were standing in the white
lobby with our friends, when Mama came in and saw us. “C’mon! C’mon!” she yelled, pushing Adline’s face on into
the door. “Essie Mae, um gonna try my best to kill you when I get you home. I told you ‘bout running up in these
stores and things like you own ‘em!” she shouted, dragging me through the door. When we got outside, we stood
there crying, and we could hear the white children crying inside the white lobby. After that, Mama didn’t even let us
stay at the movies. She carried us right home.
All the way back to our house, Mama kept telling us that we couldn’t sit downstairs, we couldn’t do this or
that with white children. Up until that time I had never really thought about it. After all, we were playing together. I
knew that we were going to separate schools and all, but I never knew why.
After the movie incident, the white children stopped playing in front of our house. For about two weeks we
didn’t see them at all. Then one day they were there again and we started playing. But things were not the same. I had
never really thought of them as white before. Now all of a sudden they were white, and their whiteness made them
better than me. I now realized that not only were they better than me because they were white, but everything they
owned and everything connected with them was better than what was available to me. I hadn’t realized before that
downstairs in the movies was any better than upstairs. But now I saw that it was. Their whiteness provided them with
a pass to downstairs in that nice section and my blackness sent me to the balcony.
Now that I was thinking about it, their schools, homes, and streets were better than mine. They had a large
red brick school with nice sidewalks connecting the buildings. Their homes were large and beautiful with indoor
toilets and every other convenience that I knew of at the time. Every house I had ever lived in was a one- or two-
room shack with an outdoor toilet. It really bothered me that they had all these nice things and we had nothing.

Anne Moody, Coming of Age in Mississippi (New York: Bantam Dell, 1968), 32-34. 11

Copyright 2014. Mississippi Department of Archives and History.

Excerpt from The Help by Kathryn Stockett
“Sit down on your behind, Minny, because I’m about to tell you the rules for working in a White Lady’s
house.”
I was fourteen years old to the day. I sat at the little wooden table in my mama’s kitchen eyeing that caramel
cake on the cooling rack, waiting to be iced. Birthdays were the only day of the year I was allowed to eat as much as I
wanted.
I was about to quit school and start my first real job. Mama wanted me to stay on and go to ninth grade—she’d
always wanted to be a schoolteacher instead of working in Miss Woodra’s house. But with my sister’s heart problem
and my no-good drunk daddy, it was up to me and Mama. I already knew about housework. After school, I did most
of the cooking and the cleaning. But if I was going off to work in somebody else’s house, who’d be looking after ours?
Mama turned me by the shoulders so I’d look at her instead of the cake. Mama was a crack-whip. She was
proper. She took nothing from nobody. She shook her finger so close to my face, it made me cross-eyed.
“Rule Number One for working for a White Lady, Minny: it is nobody’s business. You keep your nose out
of your White Lady’s problems, you don’t go crying to her with yours—You can’t pay the light bill? Your feet are too
sore? Remember one thing: white people are not your friends. They don’t want to hear about it. And when Miss White
Lady catchers her man with the lady next door, you keep out of it, you head me?
“Rule Number Two: don’t you ever let that White Lady find you sitting on her toilet. I don’t care if you’ve got
to go so bad it’s coming out of your hairbraids. If there’s not one out back for the help, you find yourself a time when
she’s not there in a bathroom she doesn’t use.
“Rule Number Three—” Mama jerked my chin back around to facer her because that cake had lured me in
again. “Rule Number Three: when you’re cooking white people’s good, you taste it with a different spoon. You put that
spoon to your mouth, think nobody’s looking, put it back in the pot, might as well throw it out.
“Rule Number Four: You use the same cup, same fork, same plate every day. Keep it in a separate cupboard
and tell that white woman that’s the one you’ll use from here on out.
“Rule Number Five: you eat in the kitchen.
“Rule Number Six: you don’t hit on her children. White people like to do their own spanking.
“Rule Number Seven: this is the last one, Minny. Are you listening to me? No sass-mouthing.”
“Mama, I know how—”
“Oh, I hear you when you think I can’t, muttering about having to clean the stovepipe, about the last little
pieces of chicken left for poor Minny. You sass a white woman in the morning, you’ll be sassing out on the street in
the afternoon.”
I was the way my mama acted when Miss Woodra brought her home, all Yes Ma’aming, No Ma’aming, I sure
do thank you Ma’aming. Why I got to be like that? I know how to stand up to people.
“Now come here and give your mama a hug on your birthday—Lord, you are heavy as a house, Minny.”
“I ain’t eaten all day, when can I have my cake?”
“Don’t say ‘ain’t,’ you speak properly now. I didn’t raise you to talk like a mule.”
First day at my White Lady’s house, I ate my ham sandwich in the kitchen, put my plate up in my spot in the
cupboard. When that little brat stole my pocketbook and hid it in the oven, I didn’t whoop her on the behind.
But when the White Lady said: “Now I want you to be sure and handwash all the clothes first, then put them
in the electric machine to finish up.”
I said: “Why I got to handwash when the power washer gone do the job? That’s the biggest waste a time I ever
heard of.”
That White Lady smiled at me, and five minutes later, I was out on the street.

Kathryn Stockett, The Help (New York: Berkley Books, 2009), 45-47.

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Copyright 2014. Mississippi Department of Archives and History.