Jim Crow 1883-c1900

Jim Crow

• Jim Crow Laws = seg laws south

  • de juro + de facto

  • ‘redemption’

• reversed recon gains

• Ba mostly disenfranchised so pol alliance x occur between races (keep powerful in power)

• ↑ white supremacist violence (lynching)

• began w SC rulings

Supreme Court

• ↑ court of appeal, judiciary branch govt

• 9 justices - 4lifers, president nominated

• Chief Justice Marshall ↑ power - right to interpret constitution

  • fed/state law

  • can challenge legality of govt actions

1883 SC decision

• 5 civil cases brought to SC against racial discrimination

  • eg US v Stanley, US v Nichols

• argued denied rights guaranteed in

  • Civil Rights Act - public places x racially discriminate

  • 14th - equal protection under law

• 2 abt Missouri hotels, 2 abt theatres (eg San Francisco), 1 abt railway

• ruling = individual acts racial discrimination = legal

  • 14^th only outlawed state govt actions

  • ruled CRA unconstitutional (x authorised by amends)

    • attempted regulate private businesses/individuals

• → most recon gains removed

• legally justified seg + individuals/businesses excluding Ba

  • states x required to prevent it

Ba response to ruling

• ‘Behind the Veil’ - Dubois

• seg ⭢ ba forced to hide in shadows, sidelines, progress behind closed doors

  • x be black if want to assimilate in mainstream American soc, living in fear

• space for black consciousness/community to develop, black identity

• leg etc limited in understanding ba position

  • historiography = orthodox narrative

legal extension of seg

• edu

• railway carriages - 1st Florida ($500 fine ba violate law)

  • 1900 Maryland 1st non confed state

  • waiting rooms

• street cars

• hospitals, prisons, cemeteries etc

• some areas = prostitution

• parks - Atlanta’s Grant Park new zoo 1890

  • cages in mid building = aisles

Voting discrimination - Mississippi

• disproportionately target Ba 1890

• pop = 55% ba

• delegation (only 1 ba) appointed to adopt new state constitution → changed voting system

• $2 poll tax (register)

• literacy tests (60% Ba illiterate)

• primary demo elections = white only

  • parties = private orgs → x covered by state const

  • demo candidate almost always won

Grandfather Clause

• Louisiana 1898

• vote = pass literacy or property test

• ↑ Wa x qualify → new section 5

  • if eligible to vote 1 Jan 1867 x have to pass tests (+ sons, grandsons)

    • ba x vote at time

• state justification = against slavery x Ba

• 8yrs = 130,000 → 1,300 Ba registered

• → clause adopted by many other states

1890s SC decisions - Plessy vs Ferguson

• decisions upheld state mandated seg (legitimised it)

• 1896

• louisiana - Ba/Creole group + Railway company (expense of adding extra carriage)

  • test case Homer Plessy (1/8 b, looked white)

  • broke railway seg rule → arrested

• lawyer - pointed out absurdity of seg by colour

  • ignored by sc - expand definition of black to incl mixed race

  • upheld legal seg ‘separate but equal protection under law’ (x against 14th)

Cumming vs Richmond County Board of Edu

• 1899

• board levied tax to provide schls w support + decided to close Ware High Schl

  • to est 4 Ba elementary schls

  • x high schl → x uni

  • some argue funds only for white schls

• sc - constitutional (x race motivated), $10 (can get private edu)

  • legitimised unequal distribution of edu funds (↓ teaching/resources bc $ for 1 → $ for 4)

  • extended ‘separate but equal’ to edu

  • lasted until 1950s

lynching

• illegal execution of accused person by mob

  • began heavily being used to target ba

• ⭡ facilitated by Jim Crow + sc decisions

  • seg - lesser humans

• fear interracial sex

• stereotypes - b men accused raping w women

• public spectacle (picnic style, up to 1000s spectators), entertainment

  • hung etc

• to deter civil rights movment, terrorising

• c 12% = ‘trivial offences’

  • register vote, testifying Wa, peeping into window

• ‘93 Paris, Texas - 17yr Henry Smith accused murder white woman

  • paraded around town, tortured, blinded, burned alive

• ↑ - 1890s 3 a week

Ida B Wells

• civil rights figure/journalist (lynching)

• conspiracy of silence - normalised, herd mentality, passivity, oppressive, complicity

• S states governed by mob rule, violence, fear

  • govts condoned or allowed it - x moral law/order, hypocrisy (christian values, land of the free)

• writing - restrained tone, x directly condemns it (fear of own life)

  • futility of protest, hopelessness