Jim Crow Laws: Plessy Vs. Ferguson Case

For nearly a century, the United States was occupied by the racial segregation of black and white people. The constitutionality of this “separation of humans into racial or other ethnic groups in daily life” had not been decided until a deliberate provocation to the law was made. The goal of this test was to have a mulatto, someone of mixed blood, defy the segregated train car law and raise a dispute on the fairness of being categorized as colored or not. This test went down in history as Plessy v. Ferguson, a planned challenge to the law during a period ruled by Jim Crow laws and the idea of “separate but equal” without equality for African Americans. This challenge forced the Supreme Court to rule on the constitutionality of segregation, and in result of the case, caused the nation to have split opinions of support and

Jim Crow Laws was the name of the racial categorization that affected many African Americans from the 1870s to the 1960s. Under this way of life, black were classified as second class citizens. Through this societal hierarchy, many African Americans faced hardship and prejudice. The laws influenced the nation so greatly that even scientists, doctors, and other professionals "proved" that blacks were inferior to the whites in intelligence, morality, and civilized behavior. These laws convinced people that mixed babies would destroy the nation.

The Jim Crow laws were laws that made the whites seem inferior to the African-Americans. They were originated in 1877. These laws kept African-Americans from doing things like riding on busses, drinking from water fountains, and more. They were laws that touched the lives of the African-Americans and not in a positive way. They made the African-Americans feel like they did not matter and they were forced to feel like a mistake that God made. However, the Bible states that every single person is fearfully and wonderfully made (The Holy Bible, Psalm 139:14). Man looks at the outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart (The Holy Bible, 1 Sam. 16:7). Why do people see color and judge when they can not help their physical appearance but they are fully in control of their heart and actions?The African-Americans did not choose a life of slavery and shame. The were brought of to North America by force. From their beginnings in 1877, the Jim Crow laws, both codified and uncodified, greatly affected the African- American way of life.

In the 1930’s there were many horrible things that went on. Harper Lee wanted people to be more aware of that so there are many things in To Kill a Mockingbird that were inspired by the 1930’s. This made the book more realistic and helped people really understand what it was like and how much society has to change. Some examples of horrible things that occured would be the Scottsboro trial, the Jim Crow laws, and the racial tensions. At these times people believed that white people were better than black and that black people are untrustworthy and below everyone else. Harper Lee was inspired to write To Kill a Mockingbird by all of the unspeakable events that happened in the 1930’s including racial tensions, Jim Crow laws, and the Scottsboro

Jim Crow Laws made African Americans and Caucasians “equal”, but “separate.” Jim Crow Laws did uphold to the” separate” part of the laws, but the “equal” part was not true. Racial segregation is born. Racial segregation could be found in all public establishments in the south between the years of 1877- 1960s. Jim Crow Laws allowed Caucasian owned establishments to segregate without punishment. A few examples of Jim Crow Laws are “all marriages between a white person and a negro are forever prohibited and shall be illegal and void; no colored person shall serve as a barber to white women or girls; every employer of white or negro males shall provide separate toilet facilities; it shall be unlawful to conduct a restaurant or other place for the serving of food in the city, at which white and colored people are served in the same room; and the county shall provide schools of two kinds; those for white children and those for colored children.” In most southern states the only public swimming pool was a “whites only” pool, and for this reason many African American children did not learn how to swim. Conditions within the African American establishments were much worse than in establishments for Caucasians. African Americans were given the worst jobs and the lowest

One example of policymaking under "Jim Crow" is the segregation of the military and other federal government workplaces, a policy that was brought about in 1913 under the orders of President Woodrow Wilson. Although "Jim Crow" laws made segregation an absolute legal requirement in many cases, in some places in the U.S., the spirit of racism was enough to keep racial segregation a reality. Even something as simple as traffic was affected by some "Jim Crow" laws, as there were areas in the U.S. where white drivers were always considered to have the right of way while driving, no matter what the circumstance. The Jim Crow laws and system of etiquette were undergirded by violence, real and threatened. Blacks who violated Jim

Jim Crow Laws guaranteed that African Americans were treated as second class citizens without the freedom and liberties promised by our nation’s constitution. Many segregation laws, called The Jim Crow Laws, were already in place throughout the South before the Supreme Court’s Decision in Plessy v Ferguson. Growing up as a Native American was kind of rough on people, they were separated from others. They were only allowed to use certain water fountains, certain bathrooms plus they had to wait for the Americans to get done before they could walk into a grouchy store. Religious liberty, like free speech, is not an absolute right. The caucus wants black churches to take up the case of voter ID laws as the moral equivalent of Jim Crow Laws.

Thesis: The repercussions of institutionalized prejudice are far too great for any group to overcome. Jim Crow laws repressed many black americans in the 1850s and the repercussions of that are still affecting black society today. Similarly in the 1800s woman were legally restricted from many of the things men were and still are still unfairly treated to in society today.

Plessy v. Ferguson was a very important topic in 1892. When an African-American man named Homer Plessy, who looked white decided to ride in a “whites-only” railroad car. Plessy told a white man who worked on the train that he was 1/8 African-American and was arrested for not moving to the “blacks-only” car. The reason he went on the “whites-only” car was to protest against Louisiana’s “Separate Car Act,” which meant blacks and whites had to be in different cars on a train so they could be seperate. This debate soon went to court and was argued if what happened on the train was constitutional or unconstitutional.

The Great Migration was a big part during and after World War One. During World War One as many as 367,000 African Americans served in the military. So many joined because they were trying to prove their loyalty to America. This movement began between 1910 and 1970. About 6 million African Americans tried moving from Southern United States to the North. But what made them want to leave so badly?

Jim Crow laws have created some negative history in this nation’s past, and it has greatly influenced the effects on today’s segregation. This is a subject that will always be around, without a doubt. There are some things that can’t be taken out of the past, or the future. Jim Crow laws gave African Americans a rough life from 1817-1965. From direct-action protests and boycotts to armed self-defense, from court cases to popular culture, freedom was in the air in ways that challenged white authority and even contested established black ways of doing things in moments of crisis (Baldwin

The “Jim Crow” laws were implemented in the South during the beginning of the 1880’s and were heavily enforced. These laws were used in order to segregate the common areas between the whites and the African Americans. Many areas such as the restrooms, schools, and hospitals were each provided separately depending on the color of their skin. Many of the areas reserved for the African Americans were in worse conditions than those reserved for the Whites. This left the freedmen with the more rundown environments while the whites were able to have the best of the best wherever they happened to go. They were also used in order to make the ability to vote more restrictive and difficult to achieve. In order for the freedmen to have the ability to vote many, many obstacles would have to be overcome, such as having to pay a steep poll tax and pass extremely difficult tests, such as literacy tests. Even though the “Jim Crow” style of segregation disfranchised the majority of the freedmen, the South was still able to have it imposed. The reason for the “Jim Crow” laws being able to be enforced upon the society in the South was due to the fact that the freedmen did not have any support of the North to prevent the South from being able to achieve such extremes. Along with this reason,

They were considered as the out-group members compared to the whites who conquered their rights. The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws that were achieved between 1876 and 1965. They authorized de jure (or legalized) racial segregation in public facilities in the entire south, apparently with a "separate but equal" stand for African Americans. Some examples of Jim Crow laws are the segregation of public schools, public places, and public transportation, and the segregation of restrooms, restaurants, and drinking fountains for whites and blacks. The separation led to financial assistance, treatment, and shelters that were usually lower compared to the white Americans. African Americans were denied the right to vote, and violence was used to keep blacks beneath whites in their racial hierarchy. The Disfranchisement in the south was the denial to Poll Taxes, literacy test, and grandfathers’ clauses. The grandfathers prevented a lot of blacks Americas to vote, because grandfather was black. Violence took place in lynching and courting and the KKK and other related groups used violence to suppress black political action to make sure the election of segregationist democrats. “If any Blacks tried to fight the system, their life would be at risk” (Moore

The Jim Crow Laws were brought up to Congress in February 22, 1908. Crow Laws were trying to make spate cars and spate the two classes. The Jim Crow laws were also trying to grant “Colored people the right to vote”. The Jim Crow Laws were made fun of by the Jury and got denied brutally. This Article really put me in prospective of how poorly the African American people were treated back in the day.

Plessy v. Ferguson was a case involving segregation and racial discrimination. During segregation there were many ways blacks and whites were separated and one was on public transportation like trains and buses. Homer Plessy refused to move from his seat on a train after explaining to the conductor that he was only partially black, and after being arrested his lawyers tried to prove that his rights as an American citizen had been violated. The trial of Plessy v. Ferguson took place during segregation, the trial and court decisions had some effects on segregation and racial equality.