“ Jim Crow ” Segregation in the South

1. “Jim Crow” Segregation in the South 1875 -1954

4. Southern Segregation • Segregation means to separate. • After the end of slavery African Americans were segregated from whites in the US South

5. Segregated South

6. Southern States • The states with segregation were in the south, where slavery once existed. • They included 16 states including Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia

7. Jim Crow Laws • In the southern states passed a series of laws separating blacks and whites. • These were called “Jim Crow” laws • In the South “Colored” meant African American

8. Schools Segregated • In southern states black children could not attend school with white children. • African American schools were not as good as white schools

9. Buses and Streetcars • In the South, African Americans could only choose seats on the back of the bus • Whites rode in front, and black passengers had to give up their seats to whites if asked

10. “White Only” • “White Only” signs meant that restaurants would not serve African Americans • Swimming pools were for whites only • Black children could not go to many libraries or parks

11. “Colored” signs • African Americans had to go to lunch counters, bathrooms, drinking fountains, and bus facilities marked “ colored” • “Colored” was a term used to mean African American

12. Plessey v. Ferguson - 1896 • Homer Plessey challenged the Louisiana law that made Blacks sit separately on rail cars • But the Supreme Court ruled in favor of segregation, saying that facilities could be “separate but equal”

13. 20th Century Discrimination • African Americans faced discrimination from 1875 until 1954. • Blacks could not play baseball with whites in the major leagues. • Black soldiers had segregated units. • Jim Crow laws remained until the 1950’s and 1960’s.

14. The End of Jim Crow • Segregation in schools was first made illegal by the 1954 court decision Brown v Board of Education • Jim Crow laws were ended with the success of the Civil Rights Movement and the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

15. 20th Century Discrimination These images of schools for black students show that facilities were separate but never equal.

16. Separate…

17. But

18. not

19. equal

20. Black Progress • After the Civil War, during Reconstruction, African Americans made progress. • Several black representatives were elected in the south • Some former slaves received land or learned a trade • Many African Americans attended schools for the first time

21. White Reaction White southerners sought to regain their control over the freed slaves. • Ku Klux Klan – secret white organization terrorized free blacks. • Southern States passed“Black Codes” to racially segregate blacks from whites. • “Jim Crow” laws, forced blacks to use separate facilities in schools, buses, and lunch counters.

22. First Freedoms • After the Civil War in 1865 three Constitutional amendments were passed to grant newly freed African Americans legal status: • The 13th Amendment abolished slavery • The 14th amendment provided citizenship to former slaves • The 15th amendment guaranteed formers slaves the the right to vote.