Jim Crow Laws

 The Jim Crow laws were racial segregation laws enacted between 1876 and 1965 in the United States at the state and local level.  They were named after a popular character actor played of the 19th century who made fun of blacks.  It was played by a white men in 1863 in order to amuse white audiences.  You can view a brief history here: http://youtu.be/xzL2Brhg9aQ

Jim Crow was a system of segregation and discrimination in the South after the Civil War. The state and local  legislatures of certain southern states were the most effective at maintaining discriminatory laws .  Since many of the laws were locally enforced, segregation became a well know southern tradition into the 1960s.

“It shall be unlawful for a negro and white person to play together or in company with each other in any game of cards or dice, dominoes or checkers.”

—Birmingham, Alabama, 1930

“All railroads carrying passengers in the state (other than street railroads) shall provide equal but separate accommodations for the white and colored races, by providing two or more passenger cars for each passenger train, or by dividing the cars by a partition, so as to secure separate accommodations.”
—Tennessee, 1891

“Any white woman who shall suffer or permit herself to be got with child by a negro or mulatto…shall be sentenced to the penitentiary for not less than eighteen months.”
—Maryland, 1924

These Jim Crow laws were all about separation between blacks (Negros) and whites. Just about everything was separated; schools, restrooms, restaurants, and even on the buses. This is a tough topic for me because I do not agree with these laws, I feel like separating everything causes nothing but drama. Why separate everything? What is the reason for all this hatred towards blacks? I will always question why because we are all humans and we all shed the same blood. Blacks are no different than whites and its really sad that ancestors taught many of our generations to dislike each other. So many lives lost because of all the selfishness going on over something that was not really relevant to life.

Do you think separate could ever be made equal?  I think equality is about all of us working together for the same opportunities.

Link to Jim Crow Laws — http://www.nps.gov/malu/forteachers/jim_crow_laws.htm

http://americanhistory.si.edu/brown/history/1-segregated/jim-crow.html

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/struggle_congress.html