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'''Jim Crow''' was the system of racial segregation in the Southern U.S. from the 1880s to 1964 in which African Americans were segregated (separated) in public schools and public places, so that they did not mingle in public with whites on equal terms. It also means that blacks had little or no political power. It was a low point in [[Black history]] after the euphoria of [[Reconstruction]].  

'''Jim Crow''' was the system of racial segregation in the Southern U.S. from the 1880s to 1964 in which African Americans were segregated (separated) in public schools and public places, so that they did not mingle in public with whites on equal terms. It also means that blacks had little or no political power. It was a low point in [[Black history]] after the euphoria of [[Reconstruction]].  

The Supreme Court of the United States held in the ''Civil Rights Cases'' (1883) that the Fourteenth Amendment did NOT give the federal government the power to outlaw private discrimination. In an even more important decision the Supreme Court held in ''Plessy v. Ferguson'' (1896) that Jim Crow laws were constitutional as long as they allowed for "separate but equal" facilities. Everyone knew that the "equal" in "separate but equal" was a technicality, and that groww inequality was tolerated in practice.

The Supreme Court of the United States held in the ''Civil Rights Cases'' (1883) that the Fourteenth Amendment did NOT give the federal government the power to outlaw private discrimination. In an even more important decision the Supreme Court held in ''Plessy v. Ferguson'' (1896) that Jim Crow laws were constitutional as long as they allowed for "separate but equal" facilities. Everyone knew that the "equal" in "separate but equal" was a technicality, and that gross inequality was tolerated in practice.

After 1945, the Civil Rights movement gained momentum and used federal courts to attack Jim Crow.  The Supreme Court declared legal, or ''de jure'', public school segregation unconstitutional in 1954, and it ended in practice in the 1970s.<ref> Michael J. Klarman, ''From Jim Crow to Civil Rights: The  Supreme Court and the Struggle for Racial Equality'' (2006) </ref>  The court ruling did not stop ''de facto'' or informal school segregation, which continued in large cities. President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]], building a coalition of liberal northern Democrats and conservative Northern Republicans, pushed Congress to pass the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]] which immediately ended Jim Crow laws that segregated restaurants, hotels and theatres; these facilities (with rare exceptions) immediately dropped racial segregation. In 1965 the federal [[Voting Rights Act]] ended discrimination in voting for all federal, state and local elections.

After 1945, the Civil Rights movement gained momentum and used federal courts to attack Jim Crow.  The Supreme Court declared legal, or ''de jure'', public school segregation unconstitutional in 1954, and it ended in practice in the 1970s.<ref> Michael J. Klarman, ''From Jim Crow to Civil Rights: The  Supreme Court and the Struggle for Racial Equality'' (2006) </ref>  The court ruling did not stop ''de facto'' or informal school segregation, which continued in large cities. President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]], building a coalition of liberal northern Democrats and conservative Northern Republicans, pushed Congress to pass the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]] which immediately ended Jim Crow laws that segregated restaurants, hotels and theatres; these facilities (with rare exceptions) immediately dropped racial segregation. In 1965 the federal [[Voting Rights Act]] ended discrimination in voting for all federal, state and local elections.