Jim Crow Segregation in the South 1875 1954

“Jim Crow” Segregation in the South 1875 -1954

Southern Segregation • Segregation means to separate. • After the end of slavery African Americans were segregated from whites in the US South

Segregated South

Southern States • The states with segregation were in the south, where slavery once existed. • They included 16 states including Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia

Jim Crow Laws • In the southern states passed a series of laws separating blacks and whites. • These were called “Jim Crow” laws • In the South “Colored” meant African American

Schools Segregated • In southern states black children could not attend school with white children. • African American schools were not as good as white schools

Buses and Streetcars • In the South, African Americans could only choose seats on the back of the bus • Whites rode in front, and black passengers had to give up their seats to whites if asked

“White Only” • “White Only” signs meant that restaurants would not serve African Americans • Swimming pools were for whites only • Black children could not go to many libraries or parks

“Colored” signs • African Americans had to go to lunch counters, bathrooms, drinking fountains, and bus facilities marked “ colored” • “Colored” was a term used to mean African American

Plessey v. Ferguson - 1896 • Homer Plessey challenged the Louisiana law that made Blacks sit separately on rail cars • But the Supreme Court ruled in favor of segregation, saying that facilities could be “separate but equal”

20 th Century Discrimination • African Americans faced discrimination from 1875 until 1954. • Blacks could not play baseball with whites in the major leagues. • Black soldiers had segregated units. • Jim Crow laws remained until the 1950’s and 1960’s.

The End of Jim Crow • Segregation in schools was first made illegal by the 1954 court decision Brown v Board of Education • Jim Crow laws were ended with the success of the Civil Rights Movement and the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

th 20 Century Discrimination These images of schools for black students show that facilities were separate but never equal.

Separate…

But

not

equal

Black Progress • After the Civil War, during Reconstruction, African Americans made progress. • Several black representatives were elected in the south • Some former slaves received land or learned a trade • Many African Americans attended schools for the first time

White Reaction White southerners sought to regain their control over the freed slaves. • Ku Klux Klan – secret white organization terrorized free blacks. • Southern States passed“Black Codes” to racially segregate blacks from whites. • “Jim Crow” laws, forced blacks to use separate facilities in schools, buses, and lunch counters.

First Freedoms • After the Civil War in 1865 three Constitutional amendments were passed to grant newly freed African Americans legal status: • The 13 th Amendment abolished slavery • The 14 th amendment provided citizenship to former slaves • The 15 th amendment guaranteed formers slaves the right to vote.