The Role Of Segregation In America

Segregation was a big limiting factor for African Americans. In 1877, Blacks were being further separated from Whites. At the end of the 19th century Jim Crow laws went into effect that segregated in parks, railroads, hospitals, and schools. Blacks were treated as less than Whites and even though many considered this against the 14th amendment, in Plessy V. Ferguson, it was considered constitutional. Even though Blacks were able to get an education, due to the Jim Crow laws Blacks and Whites were separated. Their education wasn’t as nice as White’s education, Blacks got out dated, raggedy textbooks, while Whites got new ones. African American’s political limitations were mainly trying to keep their right to vote. Many laws were passed that
disenfranchised Black’s suffrage. Literacy tests and poll taxes were in place to keep Blacks from voting. Soon came the grandfather clause that only allowed you to vote if your father or grandfather had the right to vote before January 1, 1867. Obviously this was a violation to the 15th amendment that says you can’t deny a person’s right to vote regardless of race, color, and previous servitude. Economic limitations were not only in the south but also in the north. When African Americans migrated to northern states they faced many limitations that they also experienced in the south, such as segregation and discrimination. Labor union members were afraid African Americans would take their jobs and didn’t want them as members. Blacks had a hard time finding housing, especially in certain neighborhoods, real estate agents wouldn’t sell certain houses to African Americans. Blacks were often only hired for work if they were the last resort and often the first ones fired when business was low. However, African Americans continued to migrate to northern states and this became known as the Great Migration.