Jim Crow Era Research Paper

Why should it matter if whites, blacks, Mexicans, or any other “colored” people are in the same area or building at the same time? It shouldn 't matter, but in the beginning of the 1800 's in the Southern United States, there was not a worse law you could break as a white man. It was thought to be unclean and unlawful. Even the simplest things like eating in the same restaurant, using the same public bathroom, schools, even using the same hospitals was highly forbidden. Blacks were treated poorly, harassed, given a lot less opportunities than whites, and even assaulted. All because of the color of their skin. The Jim Crow Era was a time period between 1877 and the mid 1960 's where a series of anti-black laws were a way of life. Under

Black people could not offer to shake hands with a white male because it implied that the black was trying to become socially equal. He was also not allowed to offer his hand or any part of his body to a white female, because he could have been accused of rape. Black people and white people were not allowed to eat together or even eat in the same room, and if they were to do so then the room had some sort of partition where black people were on one side, white people were on the other side. It was also ruled that the whites would be served first. Under any circumstances a black male was not allowed to offer to light a white females cigarette as it was seen as an act of intimacy. Blacks had to use courtesy titles when referring to whites, for example: Mr., Mrs., Miss, Sir, Ma 'am. As for blacks, they were only called by their first names. If a white person was driving a vehicle with a black person inside, the black person had to sit in the back, or in the bed of a pick-up truck. Whites also had the right-of-way at every intersection. If any of the laws were not followed through by blacks, it was a possibility that they could lose their jobs, (if they had one) lose their homes, face serious jail time, or in serious cases may result in

In 1866, The Ku Klux Klan (KKK), which existed in almost every southern state, were established to resist the republican party 's policies establishing equality for the black people. The KKK 's primary goal was to reestablish white supremacy. They did this by democratic legislative victories. At first the Klan held rallies, marches, and parades, denouncing immigrants, Catholics, Jews, blacks, and organized labor. After the Civil rights Movement in 1960, their focus was more specifically towards black people and white activists, including bombing of black school and churches. The government has made many laws to stop racism in our society, but in actuality, it still exists today. Racism is not limited to just African Americans, but can also be seen with all races and cultures. There are jokes and cartoons targeting