How Did Jim Crow Rule

Throughout the late 19th century, African Americans did not have the same rights as white people, which led towards the establishment of Jim Crow laws. Jim Crow laws segregated blacks from whites in a political, educational, and social setting, which created unfair treatment towards people of color. In Devil in the Grove, four African American boys, known as the Groveland Boys, were falsely accused of raping a white woman in Florida, which was known as the Groveland case. Thurgood Marshall, who was a part of The National Association for Advancement for Colored People (NAACP), helped to solve the Groveland case, as he was an advocate in fighting against Jim Crow segregation. The labor force, vigilante groups, and legal precedents led towards
Gilbert King wrote, “McCarthy learned that whites in Groveland (who accounted for about 60 percent of the town’s population of one thousand) were tolerant of blacks, as long as they continued to work in white-owned citrus groves. ‘The Negroes do most of the work around here’” African Americans were pressured to work in the citrus industry, as white people believed African Americans were responsible for working in these industries. African Americans who worked in the citrus industries were mistreated and paid low wages. Although they were forced to work in these citrus industries, African Americans were fired from their jobs if they had jobs that were predominantly for whites, or simply due to their race, that caused a high unemployment rate when Jim Crow segregation was established. Harry T. Moore, secretary of the NAACP, was an activist against Jim Crow segregation, which got him and his wife fired. In Devil in the Grove, King wrote, “Both he and his wife, Harriette, also a teacher, were forced out of the jobs they’d held for twenty years because Harry was deemed, in the summer of 1946, a ‘troublemaker and Negro organizer’” Those who were activists against Jim Crow segregation were fired because of their opposition towards these policies. The pressure and mistreatment of working in certain industries for African
In Paul Robeson’s Ballad for Americans, it says, “Well, you see it's like this. I started to tell you. I represent the whole... Why that's it! Let my people go. That's the idea! […] Still nobody who was anybody believed it. Everybody who was anybody they doubted it. And they are doubting still, And I guess they always will, But who cares what they say whem I am on my way” In this song, Robeson voices how America restricts black people from their rights with laws separating them from white people. When Robeson performed at a concert in New York for the Civil Rights Congress, “hundreds of protestors stormed the stage, pelted the musicians with rocks or slammed them with chairs, and burned the ‘Dirty Commie’ song sheets. Police did little to intervene, but Robeson vowed to return the following week”. Even though he had gotten a negative reaction from the crowd during his performance, Robeson continued to protest against segregation laws through his music. Another song that protested against these policies was “Strange Fruit” by Billie Holiday. With the lyrics originally being a poem, it says , “Southern trees bear strange fruit, Blood on the leaves and blood at the root, Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze, Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.” Billie Holiday, who was also part of the anti-lynching campaign, performed the song