texte 4

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Hélène Josse / septembre 2006
TEXTE 4
NOTE IMPORTANTE
Le questionnaire est en auto-correction. Seul l'exercice d'écriture doit être envoyé
à la correction. Il doit parvenir à télé 3 avant le 30 novembre 2006. Mais avant
de faire l'exercice d'écriture, corrigez votre questionnaire.
Pour comprendre le texte que vous allez lire, vous devez avoir des connaissances
en histoire américaine. N'ayez crainte, je vous fournis une fiche de données
(background information).
Le but de ce travail est de vous montrer que plus on a de culture, mieux on
comprend. Une fois de plus, comprendre est un texte, ce n'est pas comprendre les
mots, c'est comprendre les idées.
La culture sert à cela. Ce n'est pas un truc chic pour briller dans les cocktails
mondains, ce n'est pas quelque chose qu'il FAUT avoir pour réussir ses études.
C'est tout simplement un outil supplémentaire pour comprendre le monde qui
nous entoure.
Allons donc nous cultivez !
CONSIGNES DE LECTURE
Dans un premier temps, ne lisez que le texte, pas la fiche de données rose
(background information). Cette fiche de données ne se lit pas d'un coup. Ce
serait trop indigeste. Le questionnaire y fera référence paragraphe par
paragraphe. Laissez vous guider.
A1B58 – Lire et écrire
Hélène Josse / septembre 2006
The Independent, 26 October 2005
Rosa Parks: An American hero
All she did was to refuse to give up her seat on a bus for a white
passenger. But Rosa Parks' stand was the spark that lit the fire
of a nation's civil rights movement.
Rupert Cornwell reports on the death of a woman who transformed
American society
Almost exactly half a century ago, a weary black seamstress in Montgomery,
Alabama, refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a city bus. She was
arrested and put in jail - and the rest, quite literally, is history.
Strictly speaking, Rosa Parks' gesture of defiance on the evening of 1 December
1955 does not mark the beginning of the civil rights struggle that consumed 5
America for the subsequent decade. That distinction belongs to the 1954 Brown v
Board of Education ruling, ordering the desegregation of schools.
In fact, she was not even the first black woman to be arrested for refusing to
surrender her seat on a bus. In March and October that same year, Claudette
Colvin and Mary Louise Smith respectively were arrested and punished for doing 10
the same.
But Ms Parks' arrest was different. She was a demure and modest woman, but
possessed of a will of steel. She was also married to an activist in the National
Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP), the oldest and
most venerable US civil rights movement, where she gained a reputation as a militant for her efforts to boost 15
black voter registration.
20
Her arrest gripped the country's imagination and galvanised the emerging civil rights movement. There followed
a 380-day boycott of Montgomery buses by the city's blacks, organised in part by a young pastor newly arrived
at the city's Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, named Martin Luther King. The eventual triumph came nine years
later, when President Johnson signed the 1964 Civil Rights Act. But the small protest of Rosa Parks was the
spark that lit the fire.
On Monday, aged 92, she died, venerated as little less than a 20th century saint. "A true American hero,"
Senator Edward Kennedy called her. "She sat down in order that we all might stand up - and the walls of
segregation came down," said Jesse Jackson, the civil rights leader.
25
30
35
Death was probably a merciful release. She was frail and suffering from dementia, and had hardly appeared in
public for a decade. But her impact has been enduring; indeed it may be measured by the career trajectory of
another black daughter of Alabama, who has risen to heights of which Rosa Parks could not have imagined 50
years ago.
Three days before she died, Condoleezza Rice, the first black woman to become Secretary of State, returned to
her home state and the city of Birmingham, 100 miles north of Montgomery, where she was born. Elegant and
immaculate, she was feted at every stop like a rock star - or rather like an aspiring Presidential candidate that,
despite repeated denials, some people are convinced she is.
Ms Rice's message was diplomatic, as she repeatedly compared the struggle for democracy in Iraq with the long
struggle of blacks to throw off Jim Crow. But it was also a conscious statement of what black Americans could
accomplish, when given the chance. But that chance would never have been possible without the peaceful
revolution inspired in part by Rosa Parks. /…/
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Hélène Josse / septembre 2006
ROSA PARKS - BACKGROUND INFORMATION
(ne pas lire pour l'instant – allez directement questionnaire)
I- WHO WAS JIM CROW?
The name Jim Crow is often used to describe the segregation laws, rules, and customs
which arose after Reconstruction ended in 1877 and continued until the mid-1960s.
How did the name become associated with these "Black Codes" which took away many
of the rights which had been granted to Blacks through the 13th, 14th, and 15th
Amendments?
"Come listen all you galls and boys,
I'm going to sing a little song,
My name is Jim Crow.
Weel about and turn about and do jis so,
Eb'ry time I weel about I jump Jim Crow."
These words are from the song, "Jim Crow," as it appeared in a song written by
Thomas Dartmouth "Daddy" Rice. /…/ Rice, a White man, was one of the first
performers to wear blackface makeup in order to caricature and ridicule Blacks. His
Jim Crow song-and-dance routine was an astounding success that took him from
Louisville to Cincinnati to Pittsburgh to Philadelphia and finally to New York in 1832.
He then performed to great acclaim in London and Dublin. /…/
By 1838, the term "Jim Crow" was being used as a collective racial epithet for Blacks,
almost as offensive as "nigger". /…/ By the end of the
19th Century, the words "Jim Crow" were being used
to describe laws and customs which oppressed
Blacks.
II- WHAT WAS JIM CROW?
Jim Crow was the name of the racial system which operated primarily, but not
exclusively in southern and border states, between 1877 and the mid-1960s. Jim
Crow was more than a series of rigid anti-Black laws. It was a way of life. Under Jim
Crow, African Americans were relegated to the status of second class citizens. Jim
Crow represented the legitimization of anti-Black racism. Many Christian ministers
and theologians taught that Whites were the Chosen people, Blacks were cursed to be
servants, and God supported racial segregation.
A- Summary of the " Jim Crow etiquette":
a. A Black male could not shake hands with a White male because it implied being
socially equal. Obviously, a Black male could not offer his hand or any other
part of his body to a White woman, because he risked being accused of rape.
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Hélène Josse / septembre 2006
b. Blacks and Whites were not supposed to eat together. If they did eat together,
Whites were to be served first, and some sort of partition was to be placed
between them.
c. Under no circumstance was a Black male to offer to light the cigarette of a White
female -- that gesture implied intimacy.
d. Blacks were not allowed to show public affection
toward one another in public, especially kissing,
because it offended Whites.
e. Jim Crow etiquette prescribed that Blacks were
introduced to Whites, never Whites to Blacks.
For example: "Mr. Peters (the White person), this
is Charlie (the Black person), that I spoke to you about."
f. Whites did not use courtesy titles of respect when referring to Blacks, for
example, Mr., Mrs., Miss., Sir, or Ma'am. Instead, Blacks were called by their
first names. Blacks had to use courtesy titles when referring to Whites, and
were not allowed to call them by their first names.
g. If a Black person rode in a car driven by a White person, the Black person sat in
the back seat, or the back of a truck.
h. White motorists had the right-of-way at all intersections.
B- A few "Jim Crow laws" (black codes):
a. Barbers. No colored barber shall serve as a barber to white girls or women
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
h.
(Georgia).
Burial. The officer in charge shall not bury any colored persons upon ground
used for the burial of white persons (Georgia).
Buses. All passenger stations in this
state operated by any motor
transportation company shall have
separate waiting rooms or space and
separate ticket windows for the white and colored races (Alabama).
Education. The schools for white children and the schools for negro children
shall be conducted separately (Florida).
Libraries. The state librarian is directed to fit up and maintain a separate place
for the use of the colored people who may come to the library for the purpose of
reading books or periodicals (North Carolina).
Mental Hospitals. The Board of Control shall see that proper and distinct
apartments are arranged for said patients, so
that in no case shall Negroes and white persons
be together (Georgia).
g. Nurses. No person or corporation shall require
any White female nurse to nurse in wards or
rooms in hospitals, either public or private, in
which negro men are placed (Alabama).
Prisons. The warden shall see that the white convicts shall have separate
apartments for both eating and sleeping from the negro convicts (Mississippi).
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i.
Hélène Josse / septembre 2006
Wine and Beer. All persons licensed to conduct the business of selling beer or
wine...shall serve either white people exclusively or colored people exclusively
and shall not sell to the two races within the same room at any time (Georgia).
III- BROWN V. BOARD OF EDUCATION of Topeka, Kansas (1954)
Brown versus Board of Education of Topeka was a landmark case of the United States
Supreme Court which explicitly outlawed racial segregation of public education
facilities on the grounds that the doctrine of "separate but equal" public education
could never truly provide black Americans with facilities of the same standards
available to white Americans.
IV- MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. (January 15, 1929 , Atlanta,
Georgia– April 4, 1968) was an American Nobel Laureate, Baptist
minister and black civil rights activist. He is one of the most
significant leaders in U.S. history and in the modern history of nonviolence and is considered a hero, peacemaker and martyr by many
people around the world. A decade and a half after his 1968
assassination, Martin Luther King Day, a U.S. holiday, was
established in his honor.
V- REV. JESSE LOUIS JACKSON, SR. (born October 8, 1941) is a
civil rights activist in the United States. He was born in a poor
household in Greenville, South Carolina. He married Jacqueline
Lavinia Brown on December 31, 1962. After attending the University
of Illinois and North Carolina A&T University, he studied divinity at
the Chicago Theological Seminary and began to organize in the
Southern Christian Leadership Conference under the influence of
Martin Luther King, Jr.. He claims to have been at King's side in Memphis when King
was assassinated, April 4, 1968. He was ordained as a Baptist minister later that year.
In the 1980s he emerged as the most visible African American political figure, and
became a spokesman for civil rights issues. He was a candidate for the Democratic
presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988.
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Hélène Josse / septembre 2006
PREMIÈRE LECTURE – COMPRÉHENSION GLOBALE
Lisez le texte lentement 1 fois puis répondez aux questions suivantes
1- De quel type de texte s'agit-il?
2- Quel en est le sujet principal?
DEUXIÈME LECTURE – LA SÉGRÉGATION AUX USA
Pour comprendre ce texte, vous devez avoir quelques connaissances en civilisation
américaine, et plus particulièrement sur la période de la ségrégation. Le but de cette
section est de vous aider à trouver une partie des ces informations dans le texte, et
l'autre partie dans la fiche de données (fond rose) qui vous est fournie.
1- Qui? Où?
Relisez le texte avec deux crayons de couleurs en main.
- Soulignez tous les noms propres désignant une personne.
- Soulignez tous les noms propres désignant un lieu.
- Classez ces informations dans le tableau ci-dessous. Si vous avez un doute,
mettez le nom au crayon papier. Vous reviendrez au tableau plus tard.
Les personnes
Militants noirs
Autres
Les lieux
Villes
États
Pays
2- Les précurseurs de Rosa Brown
Rosa Brown n'était pas la première à se rebeller. Relisez le troisième paragraphe puis
expliquez qui sont ses prédécesseurs.
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Hélène Josse / septembre 2006
3- Militants célèbres
a- Le texte mentionne deux activists célèbres : Martin L. King & Jesse Jackson.
Dites en quelques mots ce que vous savez deux (vivants ou morts? Pourquoi
sont(ils célèbres? Quel est leur travail?)
b- Lisez la section IV et V de la fiches de donnée rose ("background information")
puis remplissez le tableau suivant de la manière la plus complète possible:
Points communs
Différences
c- Relisez le 5ème paragraphe autour de la ligne 20 puis dites pourquoi Martin
L. King est mentionné. Quel est le rapport avec l'histoire de Rosa Parks?
4- Brown
Vous avez sans doute relevé le nom "Brown", ligne 6. Mais savez-vous de qui il s'agit?
Lisez la section III de la "background information sheet". C'est assez difficile à
comprendre. Appuyez-vous sur les mots soulignés et sur le verbe en gras. C'est lui qui
organise la phrase. Puis expliquez en français qui était Brown, s'il a gagné ou perdu,
ce à quoi le procès a mis fin. Vous pourrez ensuite placer Brown dans le tableau de la
question 1.
5- Jim Crow
Avez-vous déjà entendu parler de Jim Crow? Si oui, expliquez en termes clairs ce dont
il s'agit puis affinez votre réponse en faisant les exercices qui suivent. Si non, passez
directement aux exercices qui suivent.
a- Travail de déduction à partir du texte
Relisez le dernier paragraphe. G. Rice compare la guerre en Iraq avec "the long
struggle of blacks to throw off Jim Crow", l. 34. A partir de cette phrase, diriezvous que Jim Crow représente quelque chose de positif ou de négatif? Diriezvous que Jim Crow est blanc ou noir?
A1B58 – Lire et écrire
Hélène Josse / septembre 2006
b- Travail de déduction à partir du mot
Cherchez dans le dictionnaire ce que signifie "crow". Qu'en déduisez-vous sur la
couleur probable de Jim Crow?
c- Pour affiner votre analyse, lisez la section I & II de la "background information
sheet". Expliquez ensuite en quelques lignes ce qu'est Jim Crow.
d- Quel est le rapport entre les "Jim Crow Laws" et Rosa Parks?
6- Condoleezza Rice
Relisez les deux derniers paragraphes puis répondez aux questions qui suivent :
a- Condoleezza Rice est-elle une militante noire?
b- Comment utilise-t-elle le mouvement des droits civils?
c- Faites un tableau comparatif de Rosa Parks et de Condoleezza Rice
TROISIÈME LECTURE : LES FAITS
1- Instructions de lecture
Les articles de journaux s'organisent rarement en suivant le déroulement
chronologique des événements. Par exemple, dans une nécrologie, on commence
toujours par la mort de la personne. On passe à sa vie plus tard. Il est important que
vous soyez capable de vous appuyer sur les dates et les compléments de temps
présents dans le texte pour vous repasser le film dans l'ordre. Relisez le texte avec un
crayon de couleur à la main et entourez les dates ainsi que les groupes de mots
faisant clairement référence au temps.
2- Enchaînement chronologique
1913
Naissance de Rosa (Il fallait utiliser sa calculette)
1954
Monsieur Brown gagne son procès contre la ségrégation dans les écoles
1955
- Mars : Claudette Colvin refuse de laisser son siège à un passager blanc
IV – WRITING (à envoyer à la correction)
Write your own obituary. (voir les conseils sur la page suivante)
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Hélène Josse / septembre 2006
QUELQUES CONSEILS
- Commencez par lire le corrigé du questionnaire que vous venez de faire.
- Ne vous lancer pas tête baissée sans réfléchir. Vous devez respecter certaines
contraintes et ordonner sur un brouillon les idées qui vous viennent. Voici quelques
jalons pour préparer votre travail :
- Qui êtes-vous? Vous pouvez soit partir de qui vous êtes vraiment, soit inventer
complètement votre personnage. Pour que votre nom apparaisse dans une
nécrologie, il faut que vous ayez fait quelque chose d'hors du commun. Inventez
vous une vie certes exceptionnelle mais cohérente, en adéquation avec votre
psychologie.
- Choisissez votre journal de publication en fonction de qui vous étiez. (Si vous
êtes un footballeur célèbre, mieux vaut un tabloïd. Si vous êtes un chanteur
d'opéra, préférez Time out. Si vous êtes un homme politique de droite ou un
businessman: the Times. Si vous êtes plutôt à gauche, The Guardian ou the
Independent …)
- Vous devez respecter le ton de l'éloge funèbre. Pour cela, faites une analyse
rapide du ton de l'article sur Rosa Parks. Voyez comment sont utilisées les
citations par exemple. N'hésitez pas à citer des personnages célèbres. C'est
excellent pour l'effet de réel.
- Vous devez aussi respecter la structure typique des articles de journaux (nous
en savons souvent parlé) et le paratexte qui va avec (date, source de publication,
présentation en paragraphe, photos …).
- Enfin, et comme toujours, merci de ne pas tenir de propos choquants. Pensez
que vous êtes corrigé par un prof de fac. Respectez sa pudeur!