Jim Crow Laws

A shameful time in our history

• On January 1, 1863, President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared freedom for all slaves residing in states who were in rebellion against the federal government.

• This meant that at least in the Southern States (the rebels of the Confederacy), slavery was considered illegal.

• While the Proclamation was initially purely political, it was seen as an enormous victory and defining moment for slaves throughout the country. However, the idea of freedom in its purest sense was never achieved.

• Individual states instilled laws known as “black codes,” which denied blacks the civil and political rights held by whites, including restrictions on land ownership, labor, and voting.

• Unfortunately for Blacks, the Supreme Court helped undermine the Constitutional protections of Blacks with the infamous Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) case, which legitimized Jim Crow laws and the Jim Crow way of life.

• Jim Crow was more than a series of rigid anti-Black laws. It was a way of life. Under 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 supported racial segregation.

• The term Jim Crow originated in a song performed by Daddy Rice, a white minstrel show entertainer in the 1830s. Rice covered his face with charcoal paste or burnt cork to resemble a black man, and then sang and danced a routine in caricature of a silly black person.

• White audiences were receptive to the portrayals of Blacks as singing, dancing, grinning fools.

• By 1838, the term "Jim Crow" was being used as a collective racial epithet for Blacks, not as offensive as the “n” word, but offensive in its own right.

• Rice, and his imitators, by their stereotypical depictions of Blacks, helped to popularize the belief that Blacks were lazy, stupid, inherently less human, and unworthy of integration.

• Ironically, years later when Blacks replaced White minstrels, the Blacks also "blackened" their faces, thereby pretending to be Whites pretending to be Blacks. They, too, performed the shows which dehumanized Blacks and helped establish the desirability of racial segregation.

• The Jim Crow system was undergirded by the following beliefs or rationalizations:

– Whites were superior to Blacks in all important ways, including but not limited to intelligence, morality, and civilized behavior

– sexual relations between Blacks and Whites would produce a mongrel race which would destroy America;

– treating Blacks as equals would encourage interracial sexual unions

– any activity which suggested social equality encouraged interracial sexual relations

– if necessary, violence must be used to keep Blacks at the bottom of the racial hierarchy.

The following Jim Crow etiquette norms show how inclusive and pervasive these norms were:

• A Black male could not offer his hand (to shake hands) with a White male because it implied being socially equal. Obviously, a Black male could not offer his hand or any other part of his body to a White woman, because he risked being accused of rape.

• Blacks and Whites were not supposed to eat together. If they did eat together, Whites were to be served first, and some sort of partition was to be placed between them.

• Under no circumstance was a Black male to offer to light the cigarette of a White female -- that gesture implied intimacy.

• Blacks were not allowed to show public affection toward one another in public, especially kissing, because it offended Whites.

• Jim Crow etiquette prescribed that Blacks were introduced to Whites, never Whites to Blacks. For example: "Mr. Peters (the White person), this is Charlie (the Black person), that I spoke to you about."

• Whites did not use courtesy titles of respect when referring to Blacks, for example, Mr., Mrs., Miss., Sir, or Ma'am. Instead, Blacks were called by their first names. Blacks had to use courtesy titles when referring to Whites, and were not allowed to call them by their first names.

• If a Black person rode in a car driven by a White person, the Black person sat in the back seat, or the back of a truck.

• White motorists had the right-of-way at all intersections.

• Jim Crow signs were placed above water fountains, door entrances and exits, and in front of public facilities.

• There were separate hospitals for Blacks and Whites, separate prisons, separate public and private schools, separate churches, separate cemeteries, separate public restrooms, and separate public accommodations.

• In most instances, the Black facilities were grossly inferior -- generally, older, less-well-kept. In other cases, there were no Black facilities -- no Colored public restroom, no public beach, no place to sit or eat.

• The Jim Crow laws and system of etiquette were solidified by violence, real and threatened.

• Blacks who violated Jim Crow norms, for example, drinking from the White water fountain or trying to vote, risked their homes, their jobs, even their lives.

• Whites could physically beat Blacks without the fear of being punished.

• Blacks had little legal recourse against these assaults because the Jim Crow criminal justice system was all-White: police, prosecutors, judges, juries, and prison officials.

• Violence was instrumental for Jim Crow. It was a method of social control.

• The most extreme forms of Jim Crow violence were lynchings.

• Lynchings were public, often sadistic, murders carried out by mobs.

• Between 1882, when the first reliable data were collected, and 1968, when lynchings had become rare, there were 4,730 known lynchings, including 3,440 Black men and women.

Jim Crow Laws for Mississippi and Missouri

By: Ryan Shirkness, Huntley Ward, Josh Sanders and Josh Clifford

Mississippi

• Enacted 22 Jim Crow Laws between 1865 and 1956• A person that is a least 1/4th black was considered

black, until 1890 where it became 1/8th

• Example of a law:– 1865: Miscegenation

Declared a felony for any freedman, free Negro, or mulatto to intermarry with any white person. Penalty: Imprisonment in state penitentiary for life.• In 1906, this law was even used on Asians

Missouri

• Jim Crow Laws were used from 1865 and 1952• Their laws showed how their state's civil rights

view was typical as most other border states– They still harsh laws that were the same as

Mississippi’s; 1/8th black makes you black and blacks can’t marry whites

• 1952: AdoptionsForbid interracial adoptions.

Jim Crow Laws:Oklahoma & Virginia

By: Duncan Underhill Garret Broxson

Krista Vogt

Oklahoma

• Funerals 1907: Blacks could not use the same hearse as white persons

• Education 1907: Separate Schools for Black and White Children

• Railroad 1908: Separate Railroad cars for Blacks and Whites

• Voting 1908: Blacks in the poor house were not allowed to vote

Oklahoma (cont.)

• Miscegenation 1908: Blacks could not marry any Non-Black person

• Public Accommodations 1915: separate Phone booths for Blacks and Whites

• Entertainment 1925: Black bands were not allowed to march with white bands. Also White boxers could not spar with Black boxers

Virginia

• Education 1870: White and Blacks could not attend the same school

• Miscegenation 1873: Blacks and Whites could not marry. They could be jailed for 1 year

• Railroads 1900: Railroads must have separate cars for Blacks and Rights

• Steamboats 1900: Steamboats must have separate seating, sleeping and eating

Virginia (cont.)

• Streetcars 1901: Separate cars for Blacks and Whites

• Race classification 1902: Negros were considered Negro by having any ancestors that were Black

• Public accommodations 1930: Separate theaters for Blacks and Whites

• Voting rights 1950: poll tax on voters • Athletes 1950: no White Athletes could play with

Black teams

Jim Crow Laws in Louisiana

Nick Worley, Jailyn Coleman, Ivy Faith, Jacob Garza

Louisiana (1868-1960)

• In 1894, a law was passed that made it illegal for marriage between blacks and whites.

• Equal but separate waiting rooms were provided by train depots, and if you were in your improper section, you could be fined up to $25, or imprisoned for up to 30 days.

• Blacks were not allowed to live in the same houses as white families, nor could they rent apartments with people of a different race, or they could be fined $1000 and/or imprisoned up to 5 years .

• Schools segregated for elementary school children.

Louisiana

• Firms were prohibited from allowing any activites (such as dancing, basketball, sports, having contests, etc.) between the blacks and whites.

• All parks and public places segregated. Separate facilities for blacks and whites.

• On voting ballots, race of person voiting must be designated.

Jim Crow LawsGeorgia

By: Sam Pitts, Van Ngo, Ali Shafer

Jim Crow Laws - Georgia

• No black and white people should be placed in the same mental hospital.

• No marriage between black and white people.• No colored barber may serve white people.

Jim Crow Laws – Georgia (continued)

• White people and black can’t be buried on the same land.

• A restaurant can’t serve both white and black people. One or the other only.

• Public transportation is segregated.

Jim Crow Laws – Georgia (Continued)

• Park can’t be shared with black and white people.

• Baseball fields can only be used by blacks or whites, not both.

• Classification for being a negro is having ¼ negro blood.

Alabama & Arizona

Kaitlyn Gilpin, Haley Graybeal, Amanda Hegstad, Drew O’Neal

Alabama Jim Crow Laws

• They started 27 Jim Crow Laws between 1865 and 1965

• They prohibited marriage between two different races

• Penalties for Intermarriage: Confinement in the penitentiary at hard labor between two and seven years; fined from $100 to $1000, or imprisoned for six months

• Separate education between different races

Alabama Continued

• They separated passenger trains• Separate jail cells for different races• White female nurses couldn’t care for Black

male patients• All person’s with African American blood was

deemed a black person• Separated waiting rooms, ticket rooms, and

buses betweens Whites and Blacks

Arizona Jim Crow Laws

• Marriages between different races were illegal• Schools were separated if there were more

than 8 African Americans in a White school• African American voters had to be able to

read the US Constitution in English language

Jim Crow Laws(North Carolina)

Jori Calland, Kasey Winstead, Ali Watson, Rebekah Lemke

North Carolina laws

• North Carolina passed 23 Jim Crow laws between 1873 and 1957. • 7 concerned school segregation • 6 were related to transportation• 4 outlawed the intermingling of the

different races.

School Segregation Law Examples

• 1875: EducationWhite and black children shall be taught in separate public schools

• 1903: Education No child with "Negro blood in its veins, however remote the strain, shall attend a school for the white race, and no such child shall be considered a white child.“

Schools Cont…

• 1957: Education No child forced to attend school with children of a different race.

• 1908: Education Prohibited black and white children from attending the same schools.

Transportation Segregation Law Examples

• 1899: Railroads Railroad and steamboat companies to provide separate but equal accommodations for white and black passengers.

• 1950: Public carriersPublic carriers to be segregated.

• 1907: Streetcars All streetcars shall set aside a portion of the front of each car as necessary for white passengers, and a rear portion of the car for black passengers

Race Segregation Law Examples

• 1873: Miscegenation Prohibited marriages between whites and Negroes or Indians or persons of Negro or Indian descent to third generation.

• 1875: Miscegenation Prohibited forever all marriages between a white person and a Negro or between a white person and a person of Negro descent to third generation inclusive.

• 1921: Miscegenation Miscegenation declared a felony

Labor

• 1952: National Guard No black troops to be permitted where white troops available; colored troops are to be under control of white officers.

Health Care

• 1957: Health Care Hospitals for the insane to be segregated.

• 1929: Health Care Mental hospitals to be segregated by race.

Health Care Cont…

• 1919: Health Care Mandatory that public or private hospitals, sanatoriums, or institutions which admitted colored patients to employ colored nurses to care for inmates of their own race. Law repealed in 1925.

Public Segregation

• 1931: Public accommodations State library directed to maintain a separate place to accommodate colored patrons.

• 1933: Prisons Prisons to be segregated by race

Public Segregation

• 1947: Public accommodations Called for racial restrictions for the burial of the dead at cemeteries.

• 1956: Public accommodations Required all plants and other businesses to maintain separate toilet facilities. Penalty: Misdemeanor.

Anti-Segregation Laws In 1963• 1963: Barred public accommodations

segregation [City Ordinance]Raleigh, N.C. repealed a portion of the city code which required racial segregation in public cemeteries.

• 1963: Barred residential segregation [City Ordinance]Repealed a 30-year ordinance in Asheville, N.C., which had barred persons of different races from residing in the same neighborhood.

An African-American youth at a "colored" drinking fountain on a courthouse lawn in

Halifax, North Carolina, 1938.

Sign for the "colored" waiting room at a bus station in Durham, North

Carolina, 1940.

Separate "white" and "colored" entrances to a cafe in Durham, North

Carolina, 1940.

How did it all end?

• Jim Crow did not officially end until the mid 1960’s.

• However the damaging effects of this time in our history still live on in the minds of many Americans today.

Sources • Pilgrim, Dr. David. "Who Was Jim Crow?" Ferris State University: Michigan College Campuses in Big Rapids MI,

Grand Rapids MI, Off Campus Locations Across Michigan. Ferris State University, 1 Sept. 2000. Web. 01 Nov. 2011. <http://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/who.htm>.

• " Jim Crow Laws: Mississippi." Jim Crow History. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Nov 2011. <http://www.jimcrowhistory.org/scripts/jimcrow/insidesouth.cgi?state=Mississippi>.

• " Jim Crow Laws: Missouri." Jim Crow History. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Nov 2011. <http://www.jimcrowhistory.org/scripts/jimcrow/insidesouth.cgi?state=Missouri>. Jimcrowhistory.org. 2001. New York Life. November 1, 2011.

• <http://jimcrowhistory.org/scripts/jimcrow/insidesouth.cgi?state=Oklahoma>• Wikipedia.1999. Wikipedia Foundation Inc. November 1, 2011 • <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Jim_Crow_laws_by_State#Oklahoma>• Jimcrowhistory.org. 2001. New York Life. November 1, 2011.• http://jimcrowhistory.org/scripts/jimcrow/insidesouth.cgi?state=Virginia• "Jim Crow Laws: Louisiana." Jim Crow Laws: Louisiana. N.p., 01 Nov. 2011. Web. 1 Nov 2011.

<http://www.jimcrowhistory.org/scripts/jimcrow/insidesouth.cgi?state=Louisiana>. • Randall, Vernellia. "Jim Crow Laws." N.p., 24/12/2007. Web. 1 Nov 2011.

<http://academic.udayton.edu/race/02rights/>.• “Jim Crow Laws: Georgia” Jimcrowhistory N.p a.d. Web.1 Nov 2011.

http://www.jimcrowhistory.org/scripts/jimcrow/insidesouth.cgi?state=Georgia.• "Jim Crow Laws: Alabama." N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Nov 2011.

<http://www.jimcrowhistory.org/scripts/jimcrow/insidesouth.cgi?state=Alabama>.• "Jim Crow Laws: Arizona." N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Nov 2011.

<http://www.jimcrowhistory.org/scripts/jimcrow/lawsoutside.cgi?state=Arizona>.• "Jim Crow Laws: North Carolina."North Carolina Jim Crow. N.p., n.d. Web.

<http://www.jimcrowhistory.org/scripts/ji mcrow/insidesouth.cgi?state=North Carolina>.• "Jim Crow Laws." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 26 Oct 2011. Web.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Crow_la ws>.