Effects Of Jim Crow

“Until justice is blind to color, until education is unaware of race, until opportunity is unconcerned with the color of men's skins, emancipation will be a proclamation but not a fact.”(Lyndon Johnson). For generations in the United Stated, ethnic minorities have been discriminated against and denied fair opportunity and equal rights. In the beginning there was slavery, and thereafter came an era of racism which directly impacted millions of minorities lives. This period called Jim Crow was the name of the racial caste system up in till mid 1960s. Jim Crow was more than just a series of severe anti-Black laws, it became a way of life. Under Jim Crow, African Americans were positioned to the status of second class citizens. What Jim Crow

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 everything but fair, and equal. Jim Crow is the name they used in the laws on separating the African Americans from the Caucasian men and women. These laws deprived African Americans from their civil rights because of the many things they were not allowed to experience due to these laws. Jim Crow laws oppressed the educational rights, voting rights, and social freedoms of American citizens, this essay will be discussing the oppression of these rights and freedoms.

In the late 1800’s, a series of racial policies went into effect known as the Jim Crow Laws. These laws enforced separate but equal treatment among African Americans and Whites. Established by the use of separate facilities such as, schools, hotels, restaurants, restrooms and transportation, many of us know and understand Jim Crow Laws by one word, “Segregation”. Jim Crow Laws were upheld by the government during the Plessy vs. Ferguson case and were cemented through acts of terror by the people who opposed. Although slavery had been abolished, African Americans were still stripped of their civil rights, which is intended to protect citizens from discrimination by the government and people.

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

Jim Crow Laws was caused due to many unhappy white southerners who weren’t happy about the ending of slavery. In addition, many white people also didn’t agree/like the fact that they would have to work with African Americans. Later on, there were “Black Codes,” which was a law in the southern states declaring that many African Americans wouldn’t have as much freedom. Also, “black codes” would make them not get paid the same amount as white southerners, and they would get paid lower wages and debts as well. For instance, the black codes also restricted civil and political rights for African Americans: a limit of freedom of employment, freedom of movement, the right to own land, and their freedom to testify in court.

The Jim crow Law, was a system set up mostly in the southern area of america from 1877-1960’s, its goal is to change the way colored people were allowed to live in america after gain their “freedom” from slavery. These so called law are were meant to continue the segregation against those of color so that they don’t start thinking highly of them selfs and don’t come to a place thinking that they own their own lives and it their to do with what they please. Fear is a powerful thing and when learned, it can do some serious harm both physically and emotionally. Many of these law would prevent colored people from doing thing we do now on a day to day…. heck, some of these we do more then once in a day. Things like giving a hand shake, showing affection, eating together and even siting next to someone in a bus or cab was set to be done in a certain way. All this was done just so that a race of people not the same color as you don’t think their equal to you. Even now it make me wonder how people can have so much hate in their heart to live like this and be ok or even happy about it. to give an even more broader look on how bad it was i’m gonna list many of the thing colored be people went’t allowed to do in america back then.

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.

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”

According to the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth amendments, blacks had the same legal protection as whites. The Supreme Court contradicted this when they allowed so called “restrictions” in the South against blacks. Those who supported Jim Crow generally lived in the South. They believed that whites were above the blacks, in things ranging from intelligence to morality. They thought sexual relations between the two races would ruin the nation, and violence could be used on blacks if needed. So, hospitals, beaches, parks, prisons, public restrooms and even water fountains were separated by color of skin. In certain areas, there weren’t even facilities for colored people (Pilgrim). African Americans also had to treat whites with respect, whereas whites did not have to, and most of the time would not treat the blacks the same. Blacks had to use titles when speaking to whites, they could not eat with the whites, and black men could not offer to shake a white mans hand. Preachers did not help with the problem, but in some situations made it worse. They would preach that God supported segregation, “the whites were the chosen people, and Blacks were servants” (Pilgrim).

Some people may wonder what are the Jim Crow Laws. The Jim Crow Laws are laws that segregated everything. “ Separate but equal was a term used during the time. Everything that was shareable was segregated. Things that were separated was schools , pools , bathrooms , waterfountains , and restaurants. They were labeled as colored and white. The name Jim Crow came from a character in a popular minstrel song. The Jim Crow law became effective after the supreme court case Plessy v. Ferguson which was considered constitutional encouraged by the blacks and whites. There is a book out called “ The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. “ By looking at the title you can tell that it is racial related. African Americans have the largest incarceration rate in the United States. In

Jim Crow Laws acted as a synthesis of social hatred and legality: they allowed white supremacists to dictate the lives of African Americans through the law.

Jim Crow laws were laws that were in place from 1866 up until the 1960’s. These laws were meant to enforce the principle, “separate but equal” which was meant to bring equality to the races while minimizing the interactions between them. These laws created separate but unequal environments for the races. They supported the idea that the white race was superior to others and they created a constant state of fear in the lives of countless African Americans. (Pilgrim, Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memrobilia 2000)

The Jim Crow laws perpetuated segregation. This set of rules to show the dominance of the white race were absolutely appalling. They were mainly operated in the southern portion of the United States, but not exclusively. The Jim Crow laws “were in place from the late 1870’s until the civil rights movement began in the 1950’s” (“Jim Crow Laws”). Blacks and whites could not use the same drinking fountains, restrooms, or attend the same restaurants, churches, and schools. It was considered rape or an unwanted advance for a black man to offer his hand to a white woman. Another law was that african-american couples could not show affection towards each other in a public area because it “offended whites” (Pilgrim) along with countless more. There