Jim Crow
Jennifer Waymon
February 27, 2013
Every day, our society takes for granted the many opportunities and freedoms that we all experience today. But there is a generation of individuals amongst us who know what it takes to earn those liberties. Anybody of the age of sixty can tell you about the injustices and injury inflicted upon African American in the past. Enacted between the years of 1876 and 1965, Jim Crow laws were local and state laws whose sole purpose was to keep Blacks oppressed. The laws mandated that Whites and Blacks be segregated in all things. In the North, de facto segregation was practiced, meaning that segregation was not condoned by the law but was exercised by many. And in the South, there was de jure segregation, which meant that segregation was a finite law. Not only could Blacks and Whites not fight in wars together, where the potential for death was real and scary, but they could not be educated together, be friends or associate in public places, or eat or urinate in the same places. With segregation often came poor and inferior facilities for Blacks compared to Whites. There were many tactics played in order to always keep African Americans out of control, such as job discrimination, poor housing situations and by using grandfather clauses to keep them from voting. During the period of 1876 and 1965 many African Americans were treated as unequal, inferior, and less than human. Born twenty-three years before the Jim Crow laws were effectively outlawed; Nevelyn Ashford (71 years of age) has seen many things in her life. Because she is my Grandmother I have heard many stories about how society was totally different when she was child compared to now. Currently, Nevelyn is a retired registered nurse, a profession she worked for over thirty–five years. At the approximate age of seven, her grandmother would send her to a store known at the time as “the White Store.” At this period in 1949, Knoxville, Tn. was getting federal help to combat the
February 27, 2013
Every day, our society takes for granted the many opportunities and freedoms that we all experience today. But there is a generation of individuals amongst us who know what it takes to earn those liberties. Anybody of the age of sixty can tell you about the injustices and injury inflicted upon African American in the past. Enacted between the years of 1876 and 1965, Jim Crow laws were local and state laws whose sole purpose was to keep Blacks oppressed. The laws mandated that Whites and Blacks be segregated in all things. In the North, de facto segregation was practiced, meaning that segregation was not condoned by the law but was exercised by many. And in the South, there was de jure segregation, which meant that segregation was a finite law. Not only could Blacks and Whites not fight in wars together, where the potential for death was real and scary, but they could not be educated together, be friends or associate in public places, or eat or urinate in the same places. With segregation often came poor and inferior facilities for Blacks compared to Whites. There were many tactics played in order to always keep African Americans out of control, such as job discrimination, poor housing situations and by using grandfather clauses to keep them from voting. During the period of 1876 and 1965 many African Americans were treated as unequal, inferior, and less than human. Born twenty-three years before the Jim Crow laws were effectively outlawed; Nevelyn Ashford (71 years of age) has seen many things in her life. Because she is my Grandmother I have heard many stories about how society was totally different when she was child compared to now. Currently, Nevelyn is a retired registered nurse, a profession she worked for over thirty–five years. At the approximate age of seven, her grandmother would send her to a store known at the time as “the White Store.” At this period in 1949, Knoxville, Tn. was getting federal help to combat the