Jim Crow Laws

Who was Jim Crow?O The name Jim Crow is often used to describe

the segregation laws, rules, and customs which arose after Reconstruction ended in 1877 and continued until the mid-1960s.

O Jim Crow was a caricature of a black man O The name came from a song:

O "Come listen all you galls and boys,I'm going to sing a little song,My name is Jim Crow.Weel about and turn about and do jis so,Eb'ry time I weel about I jump Jim Crow."

Who was Jim Crow?O The song was written by Thomas Rice, a

white actorO After seeing a black man singing the song, he

was “inspired” to create the character “Jim Crow”, an exaggerated and highly stereotypical black character

O He wore black face paint and performed all over the country, and soon the world

O His act was incredibly popular – white people loved seeing black people as singing, dancing, grinning fools

Who was Jim Crow?O By 1938, the term “Jim Crow” was

used as a racial slur against Black people

O It wasn’t as offensive as the “N” word – more along the lines of calling someone a coon or a darkie

O By the end of the 19th century, it was used more often to describe laws and customs designed to oppress Blacks rather than to describe Blacks themselves

Its EffectO Rice and other actors like him

popularized the idea that Black people were lazy, stupid, and less human

O This made it easy to continue treating Blacks as inferior to whitesO Whites were able to justify laws to

continue the oppression of Blacks