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Think About It: Jim Crow


Before reading any further, visit the Ferris State University Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia. After reading through the material, please answer two or three of the following questions in preparation for class discussion and further listening of blues composition:

  1. What are the similarities and differences between slavery and Jim Crow?
  2. Why did it matter to some White people that the races were separated legally rather than by custom?
  3. Do you think you could have lived as a Black or White person in the Jim Crow South? Please follow your answers with at least three (3) specific reasons to back up your response to be discussed in class.
  4. What passages from the books of your religious or philosophic tradition would you cite to support your position on race's role in modern life?
  5. Are there circumstances under which you could justify joining a sorority, fraternity, or social club that openly discouraged membership by Blacks, Jews, or any other group?
  6. How would you respond to the argument that segregation created more opportunities for Blacks than integration because separate Black institutions employed more principals and teachers, for example, in schools set aside for Blacks than did racially mixed schools?

You can't play the blues until you have paid your dues.

Sterling Brown

In-class or assigned activity. Before moving forward in our understanding of the blues, please watch the following media clip, "Give My Poor Heart Ease: Voices of the Mississippi Blues " (1975), which is a documentary "account of the blues experience through the recollections and performances of B. B. King, Son Thomas, inmates from Parchman prison, a barber from Clarksdale, a salesman from Beale street, and others."

 

"Give My Poor Heart Ease " Transcript

 

According to legendary blues singer Riley " B. B." King (1925-2015), there are many reasons why he sang the blues. For example, he states that he sang the blues because "I lived it," because "I know how it feels," and because "when you're hurt, someone must understand how you feel," and this was a "way of crying out to people" (Ferris). The documentary further elaborates on the types of conditions that B.B. King was likely referring to. For example, Robert Shaw, who was shopping on Beale Street, states this is the blues:

Lyrics

Living in ease when times are tough.
Money scarce, but I can't get enough.
Now my insurance is laps and the food is low.
And the landlord knocking at my door.
Last night I dreamed I died,
And the undertaker came to take me for a ride.
I couldn't afford a casket for it was so high,
I got up from my sick bed,
Because I was too poor to die.
Now ain't that blue?

(Ferris)

Sterling Brown

You can't play the blues until you have paid your dues

Sidney Bechet

The blues like spirituals were prayers. One was praying to God; the other was praying to man.