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[[Image:JimCrow.gif|thumb|minstrel character "Jim Crow"]]

[[Image:JimCrow.gif|thumb|minstrel character "Jim Crow"]]

'''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 gross 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.

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.

Conservatives and liberals alike denounce the policy of Jim Crow as an unacceptable violation of the principle of equal rights for all. [[File:Strangecareer.jpg|thumb|200px|the standard history]]

Conservatives and liberals alike denounce the policy of Jim Crow as an unacceptable violation of the principle of equal rights for all. [[File:Strangecareer.jpg|thumb|200px|the standard history]]

==De Jure segregation==

==De Jure segregation==

"De jure" or legal segregation took place when state laws required it, in the South and some border states.<ref>"De facto" segregation refers to the practice of segregation, especially in Northern cities, that was in effect by custom and not by law.  </ref>  These laws  mandated physical separation of the races in order to create a social distance and minimize violence.  The facilities purchased by taxpayers for black use was almost always inferior to those provided to whites. The most important laws required that public schools, public places and public transportation, like trains and buses, have separate facilities for whites and blacks.  (These Jim Crow Laws were separate from the 1800-66 "Black Codes", which had defined an inferior legal status for free blacks.  State-sponsored school segregation was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1954 in the seminal case of ''[[Brown v. Board of Education]]''. All the remaining Jim Crow laws were overruled by the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]] and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

"De jure" or legal segregation took place when state laws required it, in the South and some border states.<ref>"De facto" segregation refers to the practice of segregation, especially in Northern cities, that was in effect by custom and not by law.  </ref>  These laws  mandated physical separation of the races in order to create a social distance and minimize violence.  The facilities purchased by taxpayers for black use was almost always inferior to those provided to whites. The most important laws required that public schools, public places and public transportation, like trains and buses, have separate facilities for whites and blacks.  (These Jim Crow Laws were separate from the 1800-66 "Black Codes", which had defined an inferior legal status for free blacks.  State-sponsored school segregation was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1954 in the seminal case of ''[[Brown v. Board of Education]]''. All the remaining Jim Crow laws were overruled by the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]] and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

In the South, before the resort to widespread legal segregation around 1890, de facto segregation had replaced exclusion in southern race relations. The integration stage was largely bypassed. Radical measures helped to institutionalize this shift to segregation. Both white Republicans and Redeemers came to embrace the new segregation policies, though often for different reasons. Even the attitudes of blacks helped to assure the shift. Lack of white support, black self-respect, economic pressures, tactical emphasis on securing better "separate but equal" facilities, and the development of group identity all shaped blacks' attitudes.<ref> Howard N. Rabinowitz, "From Exclusion To Segregation: Southern Race Relations, 1865-1890." ''Journal of American History 1976'' 63(2): 325-350. [http://www.jstor.org/stable/1899640  in JSTOR]</ref>  

In the South, before the resort to widespread legal segregation around 1890, de facto segregation had replaced exclusion in southern race relations. The integration stage was largely bypassed. Radical measures helped to institutionalize this shift to segregation. Both white Republicans and Redeemers came to embrace the new segregation policies, though often for different reasons. Even the attitudes of blacks helped to assure the shift. Lack of white support, black self-respect, economic pressures, tactical emphasis on securing better "separate but equal" facilities, and the development of group identity all shaped blacks' attitudes.<ref> Howard N. Rabinowitz, "From Exclusion To Segregation: Southern Race Relations, 1865-1890." ''Journal of American History 1976'' 63(2): 325-350. [http://www.jstor.org/stable/1899640  in JSTOR]</ref>  

Virginia Governor James L. Kemper (governor 1874-77) and like-minded Conservatives for a variety of reasons implemented racial policies which were less anti-Negro and which gave fuller recognition than historians have conceded. The Virginia Redeemers . . . attempted to shape race relations to conform to what C. Vann Woodward has defined as the Conservative philosophy. Kemper and the Virginia Redeemers deserve to rank in history alongside the Wade Hamptons and other proponents of the Conservative philosophy.<ref> Robert R. Jones, "James L. Kemper and the Virginia Redeemers Face the Race Question: A Reconsideration." ''Journal of Southern History'' 1972 38(3): 393-414. 0022-4642 </ref>

Virginia Governor [[James L. Kemper]] (1874-77) and like-minded Conservatives sought interracial peace and implemented racial policies which were less anti-Negro and which gave fuller recognition than historians have conceded. The Virginia Redeemers attempted to shape race relations to conform to what C. Vann Woodward has defined as the Conservative philosophy. Kemper and the Virginia Redeemers deserve to rank in history alongside the Wade Hamptons and other proponents of the Conservative philosophy.<ref> Robert R. Jones, "James L. Kemper and the Virginia Redeemers Face the Race Question: A Reconsideration." ''Journal of Southern History'' 1972 38(3): 393-414. 0022-4642 </ref>

The Redeemer system of Jim Crow meant that for the first time black teachers and principals controlled black education. Rabinowitz (1974) studies the transformation from white to black teachers in southern schools in the post-Civil War years, using the experiences of five southern cities to provide a cross-section: Atlanta, Georgia; Raleigh, North Carolina; Nashville, Tennessee; Montgomery, Alabama; and Richmond, Virginia. Among the problems the Redeemers confronted were such matters as the removal of northern missionary ties and teachers in order to reassert southern control of the school system, the black demand for black teachers which was often accepted since it meant cheaper teachers, and the resultant black demand for equal salary for equal work, a demand usually denied. African Americans tried to obtain better quality instruction for their children, more administrative positions, and positions on the school board, but were usually unsuccessful. Ironically, since some schools became entirely black, insistence upon black instructors made it easier for the whites to discriminate.<ref> Howard N. Rabinowitz, "Half a Loaf: The Shift from White to Black Teachers in the Negro Schools of the Urban South, 1865-1890." ''Journal of Southern History'' 1974 40(4):565-594. [http://www.jstor.org/stable/2206355  in JSTOR] </ref>

The Redeemer system of Jim Crow meant that for the first time black teachers and principals controlled black education. Rabinowitz (1974) studies the transformation from white to black teachers in southern schools in the post-Civil War years, using the experiences of five southern cities to provide a cross-section: Atlanta, Georgia; Raleigh, North Carolina; Nashville, Tennessee; Montgomery, Alabama; and Richmond, Virginia. Among the problems the Redeemers confronted were such matters as the removal of northern missionary ties and teachers in order to reassert southern control of the school system, the black demand for black teachers which was often accepted since it meant cheaper teachers, and the resultant black demand for equal salary for equal work, a demand usually denied. African Americans tried to obtain better quality instruction for their children, more administrative positions, and positions on the school board, but were usually unsuccessful. Ironically, since some schools became entirely black, insistence upon black instructors made it easier for the whites to discriminate.<ref> Howard N. Rabinowitz, "Half a Loaf: The Shift from White to Black Teachers in the Negro Schools of the Urban South, 1865-1890." ''Journal of Southern History'' 1974 40(4):565-594. [http://www.jstor.org/stable/2206355  in JSTOR] </ref>

==See also==

==See also==

*[[Black History]]

*[[Black History]]

*[[Reconstruction]]

*[[Reconstruction]]

*[[Racism]]

*[[Racism]]

==External links==

==External links==

[[category:Civil Rights]]

[[category:Civil Rights]]

[[category:Reconstruction]]

[[category:Reconstruction]]