Random Civil Rights Moments: Jim Crow Laws

In my last post I mentioned the Jim Crow Laws. Now I never really quite learned what these were about in school so I decided to give a jackass version of it that hopefully I'll understand as well as you.In 1892 the phrase Jim Crow was attributed to the song and dance character “Jump Jim Crow.” In it a White actor by the name of Thomas D. Rice wore blackface and performed as well as a comic strip making fun of Andrew Jackson's views. These laws were used to enforce segregation in the South. During the Reconstruction period these laws started and kept on going until the mid 1960's. That's fucking nuts. In 1890 a separate but equal status was given to Blacks. This meant that schooling, housing, banking, and anything else that was given to Whites were scarce or unavailable for Blacks by law. Even though Blacks were being put into public offices more laws were being made to slow this down or flat out stop it.

All public transportation, schools, and public places were segregated. This is the whole Blacks in the back of the bus stuff. The all Black schools if any. Whites only water fountains. During the mid 1950's these laws were considered unconstitutional but that didn't stop Blacks from being attacked or killed if they tried to act as if they were equal. The rest of the Jim Crow laws were changed by the Civil Rights Act in 1964 and the Voting Rights Act in 1965. Still, that did not stop attacks and discrimination though committees were started to track the amount of Blacks that turned out to vote to ensure that they were not being kept away. There are some saying that the new anti-drug laws being used in the U.S are the new Jim Crow Laws as they specifically target Black men.

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