SHARECROPPING AND THE JIM CROW SOUTH LIFE AFTER RECONSTRUCTION

SHARECROPPING After the Civil War the freedmen in the south had virtually nothing (no land, no money, no job) The main skill many had was farming and many Landowners needed helpers now that they did not have their slaves Sharecropping  Landowners give land to freedmen to farm on in return the freedmen (who do not have much money) pay the landowner in crops  usually this was 50% of the crop but some took 70%  sharecroppers often did not have money so they would get loans from the landowners  this would make the sharecropper indebted to the landowner and ensure that they would remain in poverty

WHAT IS JIM CROW Jim Crow is a series of laws (both written and unwritten) in southern states that created a severely segregated society from 1870s up through the 1960s  creates a strict class system  the written laws created a strictly segregated society in southern states  the unwritten laws created rules for how African Americans had to act around and interact with whites  the written law part of Jim Crow was enforced by the authorities (police and justice system)  the unwritten law part of Jim Crow was enforced by the mobs and was usually very violent and deadly

SEGREGATION The most understood part of Jim Crow was basic segregation  much of southern society was broken into white and black facilities Common Examples of Segregated Facilities  buses/bus station waiting rooms  restaurants/ lunch counters  schools  rest rooms  drinking fountains  movie theaters

BUS STATION DURHAM NC 1940

MOVIE THEATER LELAND MS 1937

WHITE RESTAURANT LANCASTER OH 1938

COLORED ENTRANCE TO “INTEGRATED” MOVIE THEATER BELZONI MS

NOT JUST SEGREGATION Jim Crow was not just about segregating southern society it was also a way of life There were basic rules that blacks were expected to follow in daily life  black men were not allowed to offer their hand (hand shake) to a white man as this showed equality  black men were not allowed to offer to light a white woman’s cigarette as this showed intimacy  blacks and whites were not allowed to eat together and if they did a partition was to be put up  blacks were not allowed to show affection towards one another in public as it offended whites  blacks were not allowed to call whites by their first names and had to use courtesy titles (Mr., Mrs.) white would not use courtesy titles when addressing blacks

RULES FOR INTERACTION There were basic rules that blacks were expected to follow when they were interacting with whites  never assert that a white person is lying  never assert that a white person is from an inferior class  never claim or demonstrate superior knowledge to a white person  never curse at a white person  never laugh at a white person  never comment on the appearance of a white female

MAKING JIM CROW LEGITIMATE To many Jim Crow was unconstitutional There were several who challenged the Jim Crow laws 1896 Plessy vs. Ferguson Supreme Court Case made Jim Crow legally accepted  1892 Plessy sued LA for violating his 14 th Amendment rights by segregating the trains  LA argued that this was a states rights issue since the trains only traveled in LA  SC ruled that southern states could segregate based on Separate But Equal doctrine ****This gave Jim Crow Laws legitimacy

THE ETHICS OF LIVING JIM CROW This is an autobiographical short story by Richard Wright detailing his experience with Jim Crow