by Morgan Johnson

Created on: January 23, 2008

Jim Crow laws were enacted during the backlash following the Reconstruction Era in the South. The purpose was to repeal gains made by Blacks after the Civil War and to prevent them from gaining the full benefit of citizenship.

It is worthy to note that Jim Crow Laws were insensitive to class. They were meant to enforce the primacy of the White race. The wealthiest, most educated Black was required by law to be servile and subservient to the lowliest White person.

The first step began in 1883 when the US Supreme Court struck down the Civil Rights Act of 1875. The Democrat-controlled court felt the Federal Government had no right to bestow equal rights on former slaves or to restrict the rights of private parties to enforce segregation. Most of the laws were enacted between 1890 and 1910.

Every state in the former Confederate States of America plus Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Maryland and Washington DC had some form of Jim Crow laws on their books enforcing a "separate but equal" division of citizens. The laws ranged from discriminatory to outright denial of livelihood:

In New Mexico - Separate rooms [shall] be provided for the teaching of pupils of African descent, and [when] said rooms are so provided; such pupils may not be admitted to the school rooms occupied and used by pupils of Caucasian or other descent.

In Texas - Twenty-seven Jim Crow laws were passed in the Lone Star state from 1866 to 1958.

In Florida If unmarried people of different races spent the night under the same roof, they could each be imprisoned for up to one year and fined up to $500. By definition, all interracial couples qualified because of the following.

In Every Jim Crow state All marriages between Whites and Negroes were nullified. In some states having one Black ancestor four generations back constituted a "certain degree" of Blackness.
- See Wikipedia (Jim Crow Laws) for more examples.

The Separate but Equal Doctrine was the primary doctrine. Courts could be harsh in applying the laws but few Blacks even got that far. The communities handled most violation through swift and merciless lynchings.

From 1889 to 1930 there were more than 3,700 REPORTED lynchings in the Southern states. Many thousands more were unreported. In many towns, lynching random Negroes was a weekend ritual as much as going to church. Often the same people participated in both activities.

The Jim Crow laws took a darker turn when Blacks banded together to resist the violent discrimination facing them in every state, including the North. Riots broke out in major urban centers from Houston to New York. Occasionally, Blacks succeeded in driving of hooded "night riders" of the KKK.

The worst period of violence was in 1919 following the end of WWI. Many White communities resented returning Black men wearing the uniform, especially those who had earned decorations for valor.

Successful self-defense prompted more stringent Jim Crow Laws. Many cities passed laws limiting the number of Negroes who may gather in one place to four. Others passed anti-vagrancy laws that permitted law enforcement personnel to arrest random Blacks.

Many of these laws were still on the books years after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Segregation was still the law of the land when I started kindergarten; and I'm not that old.

For more in depth information go to: http://www.jimcrowhistory.org/

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