In the Heat of the Night

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. Consider the long-term effects of the Jim Crow laws on American institutions. How have these laws become systemic within American contemporary society?

Teaching Suggestion: This question orients students with the historical context of the novel, as well as the central theme of Systemic Racism Hurts Everyone. Jim Crow laws, or the infrastructure established during the Reconstruction period in Southern United States, were an attempt by southern lawmakers to continue the disenfranchisement of former enslaved persons and uphold segregation in the wake of the postbellum period. As a result, many former Confederate states adopted unequal laws and policies, which only further entrenched newly freed enslaved persons further into poverty and unemployment. Although the Jim Crow laws were abolished with the civil rights movement in the 1960s (the same time period of Ball’s novel), many states still struggle with the systemic racism and inequality for people of color that has been perpetuated by poor social and economic infrastructure. To help students understand Jim Crow laws and their long-term effects, it may be helpful to assign sections from the first resource below and have students report on or share their findings in groups.