Jim Crow Laws: Segregating Black People In The US

Words: 473
Pages: 2

“Jim Crow”, what does this term mean? Jim Crow laws are the former practice of segregating black people in the US. They were laws written to separate blacks and whites in public areas, also meant African Americans had unequal opportunities in work, education, and government. These laws were more than a series of rigid anti-black laws, it was a way of life. African Americans had the status of second class citizens. White people were superior to blacks in many ways, including intelligence, civilized behavior, relations between blacks and whites. They thought that treating blacks as equals would encourage interracial activities, which suggested social equality. People back then did not want social equality, if necessary, violence would be used to keep blacks at the bottom of the racial hierarchy.

Jim Crow had a part in every aspect of everyday life. Over time I have learned lots about Jim Crow laws, how unfair the colored race was treated. In the state of Florida, all marriages between a white person and a negro/person of negro descent to the fourth generation inclusive, are hereby forever prohibited. (Jim Crow laws, MLK national historic site) Why was the black race treated so horrifically? White citizens didn't experience things the same as blacks did on a daily basis. Black lives just weren’t as important as white lives, “no
…show more content…
The colored had the worst financed schools, in many places with African Americans there was a belief that they were not intelligent enough to deserve an education. White people were considered most intelligent, being treated better in the end. The most basic right of a citizen in a democracy is the right to vote. The colored race didn’t have this right and were ignored and abused by their government. It wasn’t until the voting rights act of 1965 that the practices that denied African Americans the right to vote in southern states