Lesson 31 The Economics of
Racial Discrimination
Lesson 35
Visual 35.1
Jim Crow Laws
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Jim Crow Laws were
adopted in the 1880s.
They required the
separation of races in
the use of public and
most private facilities.
Among other things, Jim
Crow Laws required poll
taxes and literacy tests
which reduced the
number of African
American voters.
Visual 35.1
The Scope of Jim Crow Laws
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Hospitals
Schools
Public parks
Railroad cars
Public buildings
Prisons
Restrooms
Visual 35.1
The Scope of Jim Crow Laws
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Restaurants
Lunch counters
Theaters
Buses
Hotels
Funeral homes
Cemeteries
Visual 35.2: Different Outcomes for Homer
Plessy and Rosa Parks?
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In 1892, Homer
Plessy was refused
a seat in a first-class
railroad car even
though he had paid
for a first-class ticket.
He challenged the
segregation laws in
court, but he lost his
case.
Visual 35.2 Different Outcomes for Homer Plessy
and Rosa Parks?
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In 1955, Rosa Parks, an
African American riding
on a bus in Montgomery,
Alabama, was told to
give up her seat to a
white passenger.
 She challenged the
segregation laws, and
she won.
 Why?
Visual 35.3 Guide to Economic
Reasoning
1. People choose.
2. People’s choices involve costs.
3. People respond to incentives in
predictable ways.
4. People create economic systems that
influence individual choices and
incentives.
5. People gain when they trade voluntarily.
6. People’s choices have consequences
that lie in the future.
Activity 35.1
Homer Plessy and Rosa Parks
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What did Homer
Plessy attempt to
do?
 What did the railroad
gain by refusing to
let Mr. Plessy use his
paid ticket?
 What did the railroad
lose?
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What did Rosa Parks
refuse to do?
 What did the bus
company gain by having
Ms. Parks arrested?
 What did the bus
company lose?
 What changes occurred
that made the bus
boycott effective in
Montgomery?