How Did Jim Crow Laws Affect The Lives Of African Americans

Although 53% of the population in the South consisted of colored Americans, they had no political or social power. Political and legal liberties were stripped from African American citizens due to their race. Private businesses and public places could turn anyone away based on the color of their skin because of the Jim Crow laws (Brannen). African Americans faced many inequalities in voting, education, and safety due to the creation of the Jim Crow Laws, but they fought back to gain their rights.
After the end of slavery, African Americans were told they would be treated equally, but the Jim Crow laws were quickly developed to prevent equality. Following the end of the American Civil War, the Civil Rights Amendments were adopted to create

The government designed literacy tests to take away votes from the former slaves. Since the former slaves had no prior education that taught them how to read and write, they did not pass the tests and therefore could not vote in elections. Colored children had to travel far to attend colored schools because they were not allowed to attend white schools. The quality of the “white” and “colored” facilities and schools was not equal because the government was not willing to spend money to improve the “colored” facilities. For example, the article “Segregation and Desegregation” states, “In 1915, South Carolina was spending twelve times more public funds per student on white schools in comparison to schools for black Americans” (Brannen). African Americans were stripped of their voting rights, and colored children attended poorly funded schools because of the Jim Crow

Many groups, including the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), were formed to challenge the laws through court cases and sit-ins. The Supreme Court slowly began reversing prior Jim Crow authorizations and past decisions. One of the most significant court cases, Brown v. Board of Education, declared that separate but equal schools violated the fourteenth amendment. This historical decision by the court gained widespread public attention and sparked the civil rights movement (Moore). Organizations like the NAACP conducted sit-ins in publicly segregated places to protest against the states that were refusing to abolish Jim Crow laws. The nonviolent protests conducted during the Civil Right Movement gained public attention and demonstrated the need for anti-discrimination laws (“Race”). The court cases and nonviolent protests were successful and Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1957 and many other acts to provide rights and protections to people of