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 allWhite: 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.
GEORGIA
JIM CROW LAWS
Kelli O’Toole
Eric Zanchi
Keaton Davis
• 1865: Unlawful for officials to
issue marriage licenses to
persons of African descent and
the other a white person.
• Penalty: A misdemeanor that
carried a fine between $200 and
$500, or confinement in jail for
three months, or both. Ministers
who married such persons also
guilty of a misdemeanor, and
fined between $500 and $1,000,
or confide in jail for six months,
or both.
Example :
• If a minister was to try to marry a “White”
man with a “Black” woman, the minister
would be arrested. Along with the White man
and Black woman.
• 1927:"Unlawful for a white
person to marry anyone except a
white person." Another statute
enacted the same year changed
the law to read that all persons
with any ascertainable trace of
Negro blood must be classified as
persons of color.
• Penalty: Both races would be
imprisoned in the penitentiary for
one to two years.
Example :
• If you had any trace of a African descent, even
if it was 1/8, you were still considered “Black”.
Because of that you couldn’t marry a “White”
person.
• 1926: Colored
clergyman can marry
Negroes only. Also
nullified interracial
marriages if parties
went to another
jurisdiction where such
marriages were legal.
Examples :
• An Colored minister could only marry Colored
couples.
• 1877:Schools shall be free to all
children of the state, but separate
schools shall be provided for
white and black children.
• Penalty: Schools that admitted
both races would receive no
monies from the public school
fund.
Examples :
• There must be segregated schools for Colors
and Whites.
Jim Crow Laws:
Florida and Louisiana
Michael Smith
Jenny Winstead
Erin Van Deventer
Steven Kenworthy
Louisiana
1. Blacks were not allowed to vote
2. Blacks could not be in the same area on a train
as a white person
3. Blacks could not marry a person of another color
4. Blacks could no participate in any social
functions (sports, dances, etc.) with a white
person
5. All human blood used for transfusion had to be
labeled with the donor’s skin color (also couldn’t
use the same hospital)
Court Cases: Louisiana
• Harmon vs. Tyler:
– Benjamin Harmon wanted a building permit, but
the city refused to give it to him because the land
he was trying to build on was in a white
neighborhood. He took his case to the Supreme
Court, where it was found unlawful for him to own
property that close to a white neighborhood.
Florida
1. Whites could not be married or even share a
room with a black person
2. Blacks could not be in the same area on a train
as a white person
3. Segregation in schools (teachers who are white
could not teach pupils who are black)
4. Blacks could spend two years in jail for sleeping
with a white person
• (no available information found on court cases
in Florida)
Jim Crow Laws
New Mexico
By:Joshua Woosley, Sean Pitchford, Brandon Fox,
Summer Ernst, Bo Terkelsen, and Kelci Speer
Jim Crow Law
• "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."
After the Laws
• 1885: Barred public accommodations segregation
No person could be excluded from public access to inns,
public transportation, or places of public entertainment based
on race, color, or previous servitude. Penalty: Fine up to $100.
• 1901: Barred school segregation
Unlawful to deny admission to a student on the basis of race
or nationality. Penalty: Misdemeanor, with a fine between $50
and $100 and imprisonment in county jail for three months,
and shall be "forever barred form teaching school or from
holding any office of honor or profit in this territory."
• 1910: Protected voting rights
Declared "The right of any citizen of the state to vote…shall
never be restricted, abridged, or impaired on account
of…inability to speak, read, or write the English or Spanish
languages, except as may otherwise be provided by this
Constitution."
Alabama & Arizona
Stevie Becker, Chandler Coates,
Margherita Andrenacci, Shonii Pugh
Alabama Jim Crow Laws
•
1865: Miscegenation [Constitution]
Stated that it was the duty of the general assembly to periodically enact laws
prohibiting intermarriage between whites and blacks, or with persons of mixed
blood, and to establish penalties.
•
1865: Miscegenation [Constitution]
Stated that it was the duty of the general assembly to periodically enact laws
prohibiting intermarriage between whites and blacks, or with persons of mixed
blood, and to establish penalties.
•
1867: Miscegenation [State Code]
Set penalties for intermarriage and cohabitation between blacks and whites.
Penalties: Confinement in the penitentiary at hard labor between two and seven
years. Those who issued the license or performed such a ceremony could be fined
from $100 to $1,000, or imprisoned for six months, or both.
•
1875: Education [Constitution]
Separate schools to be provided for the children of citizens of African descent
Alabama Jim Crow Laws
•
1957: Education [State Code]
No child compelled to attend schools that are racially mixed.
•
1963: Public accommodations and recreation [City Ordinance]
Repeated portions of Birmingham's city code which had prohibited interracial
recreation and had required separation of the races in restaurants and places of
entertainment, and separate bathrooms for black and white employees.
•
1915: Health Care [Statute] White female nurses were prohibited from caring for
black male patients.
•
1928: Race classification [State Code]
Classified all persons with any Negro blood as colored.
Arizona Jim Crow Laws
•
1865: Miscegenation [Statute] Marriages between whites with "Negroes,
mulattoes, Indians, Mongolians" were declared illegal and void. The word
"Descendants" does not appear in the statute.
•
1901: Miscegenation [Statute] Revision of the 1865 statute which added the word
"descendants" to the list of minority groups. The revised statutes also stated that
marriages would be valid if legal where they were contracted, but noted that
Arizona residents could not evade the law by going to another state to perform the
ceremony.
•
1909: Education [Statute] School district trustees were given the authority to
segregate black students from white children only where there were more than
eight Negro pupils in the school district. The legislature passed the law over a veto
by the governor.
•
1928: Miscegenation [State Code] Forbid marriages between persons of the
Caucasian, Asian and Malay races.
Arizona Jim Crow Laws
•
1911-1962: Segregation, miscegenation, voting [Statute] Passed six segregation
laws: four against miscegenation and two school segregation statutes, and a voting
rights statute that required electors to pass a literacy test. The state's
miscegenation laws prohibited blacks as well as Indians and Asians from marrying
whites, and were not repealed until 1962.
•
1927: Education [Statute] In areas with 25 or more black high school students, an
election would be called to determine if these pupils should be segregated in
separate but equal facilities.
•
1956: Miscegenation [Statute] Marriage of person of "Caucasian blood with Negro,
Mongolian, Malay, or Hindu void." Native Americans were originally included in an
earlier statute, but were deleted by a 1942 amendment.
Jim Crow Laws in Mississippi &
Missouri
Darianne Young, Kendall Mudd, Eden
Gross, Tyler Keel
Mississippi
• In Mississippi Jim Crow laws began in 1865
and ended in 1956 with 22 Laws.
• Segregation:
– No interracial marriages.
– No blacks in first class car with whites.
– Blacks, Whites, and Native Americans had
separate schools.
– Separate Street Cars.
– Healthcare facilities
Mississippi
• Segregation:
– Public carriers
– Different prisons for each race
– Public accommodations(shelters, hotels, etc)
separate for each race.
Missouri
• Segregation:
– Separate Schools
– No Interracial adoptions or marriages(at least 1/8
Asians, natives, blacks, none)
– Separate Libraries.
Note: Missouri ended their Jim Crow laws in 1952
Mississippi & Missouri
• Miscegenation:
– Felony for interracial marriages: Go to prison for
life.
• Revised fine $500 or imprisonment for 10 years
Jim Crow Laws
North Carolina 1873 – 1957
Evan Laird, Kristina Koralia, Emily
Towles, Scott McFadden
Miscegenation
1873: No marriages allowed between white and
blacks or Indians with third generation
descent.
1875: Marriages between whites and blacks
now illegal by Constitution.
1921: Miscegenation is now a felony.
1953: Marriages between whites and blacks or
Indians void.
Education
1875: Black students must be taught in separate schools than white
children.
1901: Children of black descent to the third generation may not attend
school with white children.
1903: No children of any black descent may attend school with white
children.
1908: No Indians or blacks may attend school with white students.
1931: Children of black descent may not attend schools with Indian
children.
1956: Local school boards are given the option to suspend school
operations.
1957: No child is forces to attend school with children of a different
race.
Health Care
1919: Hospitals must employ black employees in
order to care for black patients.
1929: Mental hospitals are to be segregated by
race.
1957: Hospitals for the insane are to be
segregated.
Railroads
1899: Railroads must provide separate but equal
accommodations for white and black
passengers.
Streetcars
1907: Streetcars must have a designated portion
in the back for black passengers.
Public Carriers
1925: Seats on buses are to be segregated by
race.
1950: Public Carriers are to be segregated.
Public Accommodations
1931: Libraries must have a designated area for
black patrons.
1947: Cemeteries must be segregated by race.
1956: All businesses must maintain separate
toilet facilities.
Prisons
1933: Prisons must be segregated by race.
National Guard
1952: Black troops are to be separated from
white troops and must remain under control
of white officers.
Jim Crow Laws of Oklahoma and
Virginia
Tyler Hedden
Jenna Harper
Sierra Taylor
Greg Pratt
Jim Crow Laws in Virginia
• 1870: Law passed that segregated schools based on race.
• 1873: White people who married negro’s would be jailed for
one year and fined.
• 1906: Streetcars were required to have separated cars for
white and black people.
• 1930: Every public place of entertainment must be
segregated.
• 1950: They built separate hospitals for African American
insane and epileptic people.
Jim Crow Laws in Oklahoma
• 1897: Separate school districts will be created if there are
more than 8 African American kids in a given area, and
schools are segregated.
• 1908: Railroads must have separate cars for white and African
American people.
• 1905: There must be separate telephone booths for white and
African American people.
• 1925: African American bands can’t march with white bands,
and Golden Glove boxers can’t box with African American
boxers.
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
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Web. <http://www.jimcrowhistory.org/scripts/jimcrow/insidesouth.cgi?state=Georgia>. "Jim Crow Laws:
Florida." The History of Jim Crow. New York Life, n.d. Web. 1 Nov 2011.
<http://www.jimcrowhistory.org/scripts/jimcrow/insidesouth.cgi?state=Florida>.
•
"Jim Crow Laws: Louisiana." The History of Jim Crow. New York Life, n.d. Web. 1 Nov 2011.
<http://www.jimcrowhistory.org/scripts/jimcrow/insidesouth.cgi?state=Louisiana>.
•
" Jim Crow Supreme Court Cases: Louisiana." The History of Jim Crow. New York Life, n.d. Web. 1 Nov 2011.
<http://www.jimcrowhistory.org/scripts/jimcrow/courtcases.cgi?state=Louisiana>.
“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Jim_Crow_law_examples_by_State#New_Mexico” wikipedia NP. ND. 1/11/11
“http://www.jimcrowhistory.org/scripts/jimcrow/lawsoutside.cgi?state=New%20Mexico” Jim Crow
History NP. ND. 1/11/11
"Alabama Jim Crow." The History of Jim Crow. Web. 01 Nov. 2011.
<http://www.jimcrowhistory.org/scripts/jimcrow/insidesouth.cgi?state=Alabama>.
•
•
•
•
"List of Jim Crow Law Examples by State." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. 2011. Web. 01 Nov. 2011.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Jim_Crow_law_examples_by_State>.
•
•
•
" Jim Crow Laws: Missouri." New York life n. pag. Jimcrowlaws.org. Web. 1 Nov 2011.
<http://www.jimcrowhistory.org/scripts/jimcrow/insidesouth.cgi?state=Missouri>.
" Jim Crow Laws: Mississippi." New York life n. pag. Jimcrowlaws.org. Web. 1 Nov 2011.
<http://www.jimcrowhistory.org/scripts/jimcrow/insidesouth.cgi?state=Mississippi >.
“Jim Crow Laws: North Carolina” jimcrowhistory.org. JimCrowHistory, n.d. Web. 2 Nov. 2011.
•
unknown, unknown. "Jim Crow Laws:Oklahoma." jimcrowlaws.org. N.p., unknown. Web. 1 Nov 2011.
<http://www.jimcrowhistory.org/scripts/jimcrow/insidesouth.cgi?state=Oklahoma>.
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unknown, unknown. "Jim Crow Laws:virginia." jimcrowlaws.org. unknown, unknown. Web. 1 Nov 2011.
<http://jimcrowhistory.org/scripts/jimcrow/insidesouth.cgi?state=virginia>.