James Weldon Johnson's An Autobiography Of An Ex-Colored Man

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James Weldon Johnson’s short novel, An Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man, renders an image of how every African American was affected by the Jim Crow laws. The name Jim Crow originated from a show performer, Thomas Rice, who used charcoal to blacken his face and started dancing a jig (Ronald L. F. Davis 1). The term “Jim Crow” was another way of saying “Negro”. Consequently, the laws made in the south were named Jim Crow Laws. Jim Crow Laws were laws that forced racial segregation in southern states. These laws were enacted by white legislatures during the reconstruction period after the Supreme Court announced that the Civil Rights Act of 1875 was unconstitutional and that not all people shall be treated equal (Ronald L. F. Davis 3). They