As it is Black History Month, I decided to research more
into the Jim Crow Laws. As a student, I had heard the term and the very basics
of what they were, but I realize that I didn’t know anything beyond that. Named
for a black minstrel character, Jim Crow Laws were a collection of state and
local statutes which legalized racial segregation. These laws existed for about
100 years from the post-Civil War until 1968. What was the origins of the Jim
Crow Laws? How were they expanded across the South and the nation? What helped
bring the end of Jim Crow? And what type of Jim Crow laws were enforced in my
home state of California?
Jim Crow Laws started as Black Codes as early as 1865
(Editors, 2018), which were strict laws detailing where and how the newly freed
slaves could work and for how much. It was a legal way to put blacks back into
an indentured servitude as their voting rights were essentially taken away,
they were told where to live and how to travel. And since former Confederate
soldiers were now serving as police officers and judges, there was no real
legal recourse for the blacks to fight back (Editors, 2018). Jim Crow Laws
started with restricting blacks from voting. They included literacy tests, poll
taxes and a grandfather clause (Urofsky, 2019). The grandfather clause stated
that men who were entitled to vote before 1867 and their lineal descendants
were exempted from the literacy and other qualifications. Segregation didn’t
begin immediately. Until 1877, New Orleans had fully integrated schools and
North Carolina had blacks and whites serving on juries together (Urofsky,
2019). It didn’t truly begin until the Plessy v Ferguson (1896) which
created the “separate but equal” standard. From very early on, people were fighting back
against Jim Crow Laws. Notably, Ida B Wells, who refused to leave a first-class
train car designated for whites only (Editors, 2018). As well as Isaiah
Montgomery who founded a black only town, Mound Bayou, Mississippi, in 1887.
The town still is predominately black residents (Editors, 2018).
Jim Crow Laws would expand across the nation. Public parks
would be forbidden for blacks to visit. Theaters, restaurants, waiting rooms,
water fountains, restrooms, building entrances, even cemeteries would all
become segregated (Editors, 2018). Some states would even require different
textbooks for white and blacks students and different Bibles would be used to
swear on in court (Editors, 2018). After WWI, lynchings and violence was on the
rise. For several months in 1919, there were widespread race riots in the
country. As black WWI vets were returning home and fighting back. “Between
April and November of 1919, there would be approximately 25 riots and instances
of mob violence, 97 recorded lynchings, and a three day long massacre in Elaine,
Arkansas during which over 200 black men, women, and children were killed after
black sharecroppers tried to organize for better working conditions” (Higgins,
2019). The Great Migration of the 1920s, as blacks were leaving the South,
found Jim Crow Laws spreading to the North and Western states. In the North,
suburban developments would not allow blacks to obtain mortgages for certain
“red-lined” neighborhoods (Editors, 2018). As the country would fall into the
Great Depression, racial tensions would only deepen.
The end of the Jim Crow Laws began with post-WWII and the
Civil Rights Movement (late 1940s- late 1960s). In 1948, President Harry Truman
would integrate the military. In 1954, the Supreme Court would rule in Brown
v the Board of Education that the “separate but equal” standard was
unconstitutional and would begin the national integration of schools. In 1964,
President Johnson would sign the Civil Rights Act which ended segregation in
public places and banned employment discrimination based on race, color,
religion, sex or national origin. In 1965, the Voting Rights Act would be
passed, banning the use of literacy tests. In 1967, Loving v Virginia
would end bans on interracial marriages. In 1968, the Fair Housing Acts ended
discrimination in renting and housing sales (Editors, 2018). In 1971, the
Supreme Court would uphold busing to insure integration of schools in Swann
v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education.
California had many laws which restricted people based on
race. California produced more legislation against Chinese and other Asian descents
due to the massive Asian immigration. In 1850, California passed a statute
which stated that “no black, mulatto person, or Indian, shall be allowed to
give evidence in favor or, or against, a white man.” In 1854, the California
Supreme Court would rule that this statute also included individuals of Chinese
descent. Between 1866-1947, California would pass 17 Jim Crow laws including
anti-miscegenation (interracial marriages), education and employment. In 1891,
all Chinese people would be required to carry a “certificate of residency.” If
they were caught without it, they could be arrested and jailed. It would be
illegal for whites to marry blacks, mulattos or Asian descents. It is interesting
to note Hispanics were not included in the anti-miscegenation laws because they
were considered white due to their Spanish heritage. Anti-miscegenation laws
would be overturned in California with Perez v Sharp (1948) in which
Andrea Perez (a Mexican American woman) and Sylvester Davis (a black man) were
denied a marriage license in Los Angeles County. This case was the first in the
20th century to overturn anti-miscegenation laws. Chief Justice
Warren would use this case as the basis for the Loving v Virginia
decision.
In conclusion, Jim Crow Laws were a massive systemic
discrimination against blacks and, by extension, other minorities. They were
implicated slowly and gained prominence by the turn of the 20th
century as the denials of basic rights like voting, housing and education were
ways to keep prominent powerful white majority in positions of authority. The
fight against them had been early on but didn’t gain momentum until after WWII
as black vets returned home and said enough is enough. The history of Jim Crow
Laws and other laws should not be ignored or forgotten. As we celebrate Black
History Month, let us remember these horrible laws as we try to find a balance
and harmony among ourselves.
References
Editors (February 28, 2018). Jim Crow Laws. History.com. https://www.history.com/topics/early-20th-century-us/jim-crow-laws.
Retrieved February 11, 2020.
Higgins, Abigail. (July 26, 2019). Red Summer of 1919: How
Black WWI Vets Fought Back Against Racist Mobs. History.com. https://www.history.com/news/red-summer-1919-riots-chicago-dc-great-migration.
Retrieved February 19, 2020.
Urofsky, Melvin I. (August 21, 2019). Jim Crow law UNITED
STATES [1877-1954]. Britanncia.com. https://www.britannica.com/event/Jim-Crow-law.
Retrieved February 19, 2020.
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