Jim Crow Essay

Jim crow was the name of a minstrel show character and also
the name of a series of laws designed to legalize racist practices of
state and local government after the abolition of slavery in the united
states.The series of laws included ,but was not limited to segregation
of schools and restaurants and even water fountains.Jim crow was
designed to exclude the newly freed black population in thois country
in order to prevent a mixing of races on any level.As time went by,the
jim crow laws were found unconstitutional through the efforts of the
civil rights movement.This was around the time that the new jim crow
was born under the guise of the war on drugs.The war on drugs was
launched at a time when drugs in the community were on low priority
list of most citizens.The new jim crow is known as a well hidden
means of excluding the black male population and legalizing racism
in a society that seems to be upwardly mobile towards racial
harmony.In 1896 there was a supreme court ruling in PLessy V.
Ferguson that separate facilities for whites and blacks which i think
constitutionally encouraged the passage of discriminatory laws that
wiped out the gains made by blacks during reconstruction.All public
areas are segregated even schools,only inferior quality were
designated from blacks by time World War 1 came even places of
employment were segregated.It was not until after WWII that an
assult on jim crow in the south began to make headway.In 1875 an
attempt to revert to jim crow laws to give black people equal rights as
the whites in the southern states was passed but had very little effect.
In 1883 the supreme court repealed the 1875 act as it was deemed
unconstitutional.In essence,congress wanted complete control over
corporations and people in private spheres of the southern states.
Even though congress consisted primarily of whites.They had the
power to rebuff any prospective changes in the jim crow laws which
was also done again in 1892 and 1908. The jim crow laws were
destroyed on July 2 1964 when president lyndon johnson hysterically
signed the civil rights acts of 1964. It invoked the commerce clause
,outlawing discrimination in public accommodations.The voting rights
act followed in 1965; effectively giving back people the vote.Some
interesting facts about jim crow was that he separated official records
of black births,marriages and deaths from records of the lives of white
people.Also what i found was important was that one of the jim crows
example of marriages was that prohibiting a person of Pure white
blood from marrying or engaging in illicit carnal intercourse with
anyone with african blood. ONe of jim crow's tests were that he
attempted to eliminate the black vote by applying poll taxes literacy
tests and the grandfather clause.One of jim crows prison examples
was sergregating black and white prisoners in state
penitentiaries.The most important law by jim crow was the
schools,because they had to ban black and white children from
attending the same schools and establishing seperate public schools
from black children.I would think even colleges had to go by these
rules.The telepone companies were required to maintain seperate
phone booths for blacks.If blacks and whites wanted to play sports
they were restricted from playing
pool,baseball,basketball,football,cards,dominoes,checkers or golf
together.If blacks wanted to go out to public places they had to make
sure they were seperated in
libraries,inns,otels,resturants,bars,hospitals,theaters,circuses,parks,b
eaches,restrooms,cemetaries,and where ever blacks and whites
blend.Also if blacks and whites wanted to box black boxers were not
allowed to go against whites.When working blacks and whites were
required to maintain deperate bathrooms.For housing laws had
banned homes designated to build in white communities. vice versa.