Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice

Reading Check and Short Answer questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

Part 1, Chapters 1-2

Reading Check

1. What were the “Jim Crow” laws?

2. Other than driving the vehicle, what was the bus driver’s main job in Montgomery?

3. Which Supreme Court case was “a solid punch to Jim Crow?”

4. Who was Claudette named after?

5. Which disease did Delphine fall ill to?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Summarize the incident in which Claudette learns that she is not allowed to touch a white person.

2. Why was riding the bus “humiliating for [B]lack passengers?” How did the bus drivers sometimes mistreat Black passengers?

3. What did Claudette learn about race relations in her school? What did she think about this information?

4. What was Claudette’s life like in Pine Level? Did she enjoy school?

5. Identify some of the racist experiences that Claudette experiences after moving to Montgomery.

Paired Resources

“Jim Crow Laws”

• This article from History explains the laws that codified segregation in the South.
• This information connects with the theme Internal Prejudices in 1950s Black Montgomery.
• Based on the text, as well as the above resource, in which ways did Jim Crow affect the daily lives of the Black community in Montgomery, Alabama?