| | In the late 1800s the United States was still admitting new states almost as fast as they could form. For example, in 1896 Utah was admitted as a new state. That was the territory settled by Mormons after they migrated from Illinois. As a condition of admission to the United States, Utah agreed to accept only traditional marriage and to ban the practice of polygamy (multiple wives for one husband). | | In the late 1800s the United States was still admitting new states almost as fast as they could form. For example, in 1896 Utah was admitted as a new state. That was the territory settled by Mormons after they migrated from Illinois. As a condition of admission to the United States, Utah agreed to accept only traditional marriage and to ban the practice of polygamy (multiple wives for one husband). |
| − | Also in 1896, the U.S. Supreme Court held that racial segregation in public facilities, schools, railroads, restaurants and elsewhere was fully constitutional, under the "separate but equal" doctrine. This was the decision of ''Plessy v. Ferguson'', and it is considered one of the worst judicial decisions ever. It remained the law until it was overturned in 1954 by another Supreme Court decision, ''Brown v. Board of Education'', which then began the process of integration in many public schools. Hence from 1896 to 1954 many public schools, particularly in the South, were segregated by the skin color of the students. | + | Also in 1896, the U.S. Supreme Court held that racial segregation in public facilities, schools, railroads, restaurants and elsewhere was fully constitutional, under the "separate but equal" doctrine. This was the decision of ''Plessy v. Ferguson'', and it is considered one of the worst judicial decisions ever. It remained the law until it was overturned in 1954 by another Supreme Court decision, ''Brown v. Board of Education'', which then began the process of integration in many public schools. Hence from 1896 to 1954 many public schools, particularly in the South, were segregated by the skin color of the students such that most public schools in the South (and many in the North) were comprised of either all-white students, or all-black students. |
| | + | So-called "Jim Crow" laws were passed throughout the South after the Civil War to segregate (separate) blacks from whites in schools, restaurants, neighborhoods, theaters, transportation, and drinking fountains, also to interfere with the right to vote by the former slaves. The name "Jim Crow" comes from a show performed on stage in the 1800s whereby a white man pretended to be black by wearing "blackface" makeup and mocking blacks based on stereotypes of that time. Today such performances and any use of "blackface" makeup to pretend to be black is considered offensive and racist. |
| | + | Segregation by race was also common in the North, and it is incorrect to pretend that racism occurred only in the South. The photo above shows a restaurant in Ohio which posted a sign in 1938 saying it wanted only white customers. For roughly a century after the Civil War no federal law prohibited discrimination by private businesses, and it was unclear whether Congress even had authority under the Constitution to ban private discrimination. It was not until 1964 that Congress passed a Civil Rights Act to prohibit discrimination by restaurants, hotels, transportation, employers, and other businesses which affect interstate commerce in any way. Private clubs which are not businesses, such as country clubs, sometimes continued to discriminate in the North and the South and are beyond the authority of Congress under the Constitution. |