Jim Crow Laws Essay

The phrase Jim Crow Laws rings a bell in everyone’s head. Hearing about the laws in middle school opened pure eyes to an evil world. Introducing children to a society where it was legal and normal to be segregated by color. A society where voting restrictions were placed on minorities and people could not even eat a meal or sit next to each other at a restaurant or a bus ride. A society where people only saw others as the color of their skin and not the content of their character. These encompass a shallow understanding about the Jim Crow laws children learn, but the deeper racist origins and caricatures were skimmed across. At Ferris State University, they provide a free Jim Crow museum to educate the uneducated on the topic and to teach tolerance

Jim Crow was the caste system implemented in the United States from 1877 to mid 1960’s. Jim Crow laws mainly impacted the southern and border states, but the United States as a whole faced the consequences. Jim Crow was rooted in the belief that white people were far more superior than black people. It was thought that white people were intellectually, morally, and in every other way better than black people, and Jim Crow reflects this ideal. Jim Crow laws could affect major topics like white and black people’s education system being separate, or something as simple as it being illegal for white and black people to go boating together. Jim Crow was not only legally implemented but also created the standard norms for society. Jim Crow created etiquette norms such as black men not being able to shake hands with white men because it would imply that they were equal, and at that time, they were not seen as equal. Courtesy titles like Mrs. Mr. and Ms. were to be used only by black people to white people because it was disrespectful for black people to address white people by their first name. The social norms did everything they could to make black people inferior to white

Their behaviors were already decided by white people, and this gave black people no opportunity to prove their worth. Black people were discriminated against in every way, and caricatures are no exception. Chapter 9 is about race and ethnicity and defines different types of discrimination. As it mentions, institutional discrimination is discrimination that impacts whole institutions and stems from prejudice against certain races. In today’s society black people experience this type of discrimination in health care, housing, employment, and education. Optimal medical care is often not given to people of color since doctor’s have an illicit bias towards them. Refusal of housing mortgage is given at a higher rate to black people than white people because they are seen as poorer. Black people also experience redlining which is when access to loans and insurance of certain neighborhoods is limited. These are just a few examples of how black people are still institutionally discriminated against to this day. Some white people also perform black face, which is when they intentionally change their skin tone to be black and they make fun of black looks and behaviors. This act of racism is similar to minstrel shows and caricatures that were used during times of