Arguments Against Jim Crow Laws

The Jim Crow laws were established to create segregation between racial groups in the south. They segregated African Americans from other racial groups in schools, restaurants, and public transportation, and backtracked towards slavery. The results of the Jim Crow Laws would be in effect of years to

About a hundred years after the Civil War, almost all American lived under the Jim Crow laws. The Jim Crow Laws actually legalized segregation. These racially enforced rules dominated almost every aspect of life, not to mention directed the punishments for any infraction. The key reason for the Jim Crow Laws was to keep African Americans as close to their former status as slaves as was possible. The following paper will show you the trials and tribulations of African Americans from the beginning through to the 1940’s where segregation was at its peak.

“Jim Crow Laws were statutes and ordinances established between 1874 and 1975 to separate the white and black races in the American South. In theory, it was to create "separate but equal" treatment, but in practice Jim Crow Laws condemned black citizens to inferior treatment and facilities.” The Jim Crows Laws created tensions and disrespect towards blacks from whites. These laws separated blacks and whites from each other and shows how race determines how an individual is treated. The Jim Crow laws are laws that are targeted towards black people. These laws determine how an individual is treated by limiting their education, having specific places where blacks and whites could or could not go, and the punishments for the “crime”

Sharecropping was the act of working for a landowner in return for a share of crops, seed, fertilizer, and supplies. This act was less important to maintaining the “Jim Crow” system. African-Americans did not have a “master” anymore. African-American were now no longer considered “slaves.” They worked for their survival, and often brought their own mule, plow, and line of credit from the country store to work on the fields.

Let me start by explaining what the Jim Crow Law is, under the 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

The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws enacted that mandated racial segregation in all public facilities in southern states of the former confederacy. The blacks were said to be “separate but equal” and this separation led to conditions for the blacks that tended to be inferior to those provided for whites. Law-enforced segregation mainly applied to the southern United States whereas northern segregation had patterns of segregation in housing that was enforced by the covenants, bank lending practices, and job discrimination. For decades, this included discriminatory union practices for decades. The Jim Crow laws segregated public schools, public places, public transportation, restrooms, restaurants, and drinking fountains. Therefore, it did nothing to bring about social or economic equality.

Jim Crow laws were state and local laws enforcing racial separation in the Southern United States. Passed after the Reconstruction period, all individuals were considered separate but equal. This U.S. Supreme Court

Social developments after slaves were freed shows the great extent in which former slave’s lives were not all that different after they gained their freedom. Many former slaves had to go back and voluntarily work for a white owner or even purposely enslave themselves again just have some financial support because most blacks had nowhere to go. Those who were fortunate enough to gain some land were often extremely poor and had to work their farm by themselves because they were too poor to afford help or assistance. What commonly brought blacks back into slavery and sometimes even mired whites and blacks into heavy debt was the sharecropping system. Sharecropping is a system of agriculture in which a landowner allows a tenant to use the land in return for a share of the crops produced on the land.

The Jim Crow Laws were created to separate blacks and whites in public areas and degraded African Americans by providing unequal opportunities in housing, work, education, and government. These laws contravened with the 14th amendment according to Document A, “Article 14 Section 1: No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws”. The Jim Crow Laws set a “Separate but Equal” system that the government failed to comply to since the African Americans were issued with accommodations that were not the same as whites. The Jim Crow Laws also breached the 15th amendment by prohibiting African Americans to vote in almost all Southern states. As stated in Document A, the 15th amendment is “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude--”. The ballots of many African Americans were either not considered valid or thrown away for those who did

Some of the Jim Crow Laws included, evicting the right for black men to vote. This later resulted in poll takes which kept many poor blacks and whites from voting. As shown in the picture above this is an authentic receipt from Alabama that was one the the poll tax receipts one had to sign in order to be able to register to vote after paying the fine. With Jim Crow Laws in place equal justice during this time was practically a joke for blacks. According to David K.Fremon more blacks could go to jail for merely stealing a goat than a white man would go to for killing a man.

Jim Crow laws made a devastating impact on the lives of the black community in the southern U.S. These horrible acts of segregation and cruel treatment sparked a flame at TSU when a law student was racially profiled by the police. This event combined with a thirst for justice lead to many of the students banning together to make a difference in Houston. The effects of the actions made by Texas Southern University to stop Jim Crow laws entailed the desegregation of public facilities in Houston such as the Astrodome, downtown department stores, and local lunch counters. These events were all made possible by peaceful demonstration, civil disobedience, and boycotts.

Jim Crow was a man who created laws, that affected many peoples lives during the 1960s. These laws made it much harder for blacks mainly in the South, but then it started to move upward in the United States. There were many purposes leading to creating these laws. During this era, blacks were excluded from many things and opportunities. These laws made many changes and changed how the things were after these laws were taken away. The Jim Crow Laws affected, harmed, excluded, and ruined many blacks and in some cases white peoples lives.

The Jim Crow Laws were laws that segregated white people and colored people. They did this by making whites go to different schools than colored people. They also made it to where blacks had to go to different shops than whites. They said it was separate but equal. It was not the colored people would get bad quality in every area they were allowed. This is what the Jim Crow Laws were about they were supposed to make black people feel like second class citizens. Like they would have to sit in the back of the bus. Many people fought against these laws including Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. These iconic people were considered leaders in the fight against racial segregation. As stated earlier the 15th amendment was supposed to be an amendment to where blacks got to vote. Yet they were prevented from stretching their right to vote. When they would try to vote they would be hit with obstacles like the grandfather clause and the literacy test. But that is not all they would be hurt or abused every time they would try to vote. This is what the cause was why these iconic people became famous. They went through trials to fight for the rights of black people and to bring awareness to the fact that the Jim Crow laws were not equal and pried on black people. The main reason for all of this discrimination was because before all of the amendments slavery was a big thing in America. So when the amendment came out saying that slavery was not

After the Civil War, most Southern and Border States deprived the basic rights of African Americans. Jim Crow was a fictitious character created by a white entertainer to ridicule African Americans. The laws were made in an attempt to keep African Americans away from whites after slavery ended (“Examples of Jim Crow”). The Jim Crow laws affected education, health care, and social events. “From Delaware to California, and from North Dakota to Texas, many states (and cities, too) could impose legal punishments on people for consorting with members of another race” (“Jim Crow Laws”). These punishments could be brutal or sometimes fatal.

Jim Crow was the name of the racial caste 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. Some of the laws excluded blacks from public transport and facilities, juries, jobs, and neighborhoods, voting, holding public office, and school. Although the passage of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the Constitution had granted blacks the same legal protections as whites. After 1877, and the election of Republican Rutherford B. Hayes, southern and border states began restricting the liberties of blacks.