Jim Crow Laws In The 1900's
The term Jim Crow has been in use for more than a century and still has relevance and meaning in the world today. Many people know the term describes the segregation laws that took place in the 1900’s, however that much is not the entire story. The term Jim Crow has roots in the deep south, and became so popular it was later used as a nickname to describe laws that dehumanized African Americans and striped them of their rights.
“Jim Crow” has its roots in the 1830’s when a white minstrel performer, Thomas “Daddy” Rice, darkened his face with burnt cork and danced a jig all while singing the lyrics to a song called “Jump Jim Crow”( Pilgrim). Mr. Rice had heard a black man , young or old Being one of the most famous, Rice was one …show more content…
They couldn’t just let blacks be free, so they had to find a new way to oppress them. From there came the era of the Jim Crow laws. Laws that allowed segregation between blacks and whites to be legal. These laws, as promised, kept blacks and whites separated by providing different buildings, schools, and housing for the two races( Nation Museum of American History, Behring Center). Blacks were also denied the same rights as whites. Around the 1890’s, Southern states began literacy tests, poll systems, elaborate registration systems, and whites-only Democratic Party primaries to exclude the black vote.(National Museum of American History, Behring Center). Needless to say these laws were very effective in their purpose to exclude the black and poor vote. The black people were also terrorized by the Klu Klux Klan, a group of whites that served to terrorize blacks and promote white supremacy. With terror all around them, blacks looked to the law to protect them. In the case Plessy vs. Ferguson, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the the segregation between races, if it was equal, did not violate the Constitution, and segregation was not discrimination (Museum of American History, Behring Center). The rule separate but equal then came into play. However the term was badly abused as blacks and other people of color usually
“Jim Crow” has its roots in the 1830’s when a white minstrel performer, Thomas “Daddy” Rice, darkened his face with burnt cork and danced a jig all while singing the lyrics to a song called “Jump Jim Crow”( Pilgrim). Mr. Rice had heard a black man , young or old Being one of the most famous, Rice was one …show more content…
They couldn’t just let blacks be free, so they had to find a new way to oppress them. From there came the era of the Jim Crow laws. Laws that allowed segregation between blacks and whites to be legal. These laws, as promised, kept blacks and whites separated by providing different buildings, schools, and housing for the two races( Nation Museum of American History, Behring Center). Blacks were also denied the same rights as whites. Around the 1890’s, Southern states began literacy tests, poll systems, elaborate registration systems, and whites-only Democratic Party primaries to exclude the black vote.(National Museum of American History, Behring Center). Needless to say these laws were very effective in their purpose to exclude the black and poor vote. The black people were also terrorized by the Klu Klux Klan, a group of whites that served to terrorize blacks and promote white supremacy. With terror all around them, blacks looked to the law to protect them. In the case Plessy vs. Ferguson, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the the segregation between races, if it was equal, did not violate the Constitution, and segregation was not discrimination (Museum of American History, Behring Center). The rule separate but equal then came into play. However the term was badly abused as blacks and other people of color usually