Segregation & Discrimination Gina Dominico Portia Davidson November 20, rd Period Pages:

One Americans Story The North and South had a system of segregation and discrimination It prevented equal access to, schools, jobs, housing

Ida B. Wells Refused to accept the system She was raised in a politically active African- American Family She was rushed into early adulthood, after her parents passing She had to care for her younger siblings. She became a teacher in the early 1800’s in Memphis. Later became a news editor for her local newspaper.

Ida B. Wells

Continued… Three of Ida’s friends had opened a local grocery store called “People’s Grocery” It successfully competed with a nearby white-owned store. It caused a lot of violence and ended in a local white mob forming. The white mob got the three men from jail and killed them.

African Americans Fight Legal Discrimination oHostile and violent opposition formed from whites as African Americans exercised their new rights. oThe federal government lifted military authority over the southern states in 1877 oWhite southerners gained control over state governments oMade laws to make African Americans second class citizens oRestricting their rights, they never stopped fighting.

Voting Restrictions For about ten years after the end of Reconstruction the African Americans continued to vote, and hold political office, until Southern states imposed new voting restrictions The Supreme Court generally refused to view such legislation as a violation of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments.

Continued… Voters had to be literate A requirement voter registration official’s administration a literacy test They would ask blacks more difficult questions, or would give them their test in a foreign language.

Continued… Another requirement was the Poll Tax Blacks and white sharecroppers, who usually lacked the cash to pay the tax, were frequently unable to vote.

Continued… White voters who may have failed the literacy test or could not pay the poll tax, several Southerners added a Grandfather Clause to their constitution. Louisiana was the state to do so in It stated that even if you failed the literacy test or could not pay the poll tax, he was still entitled to vote if his father, or grandfather had been eligible to vote before January 1, 1867.

Continued… During the 1870’s and 1880’s the Supreme Court failed to overturn their laws United States vs. Reese in 1876, the supreme court argued the Fifteenth Amendment didn’t give them the right to vote, it made it illegal to use race as a reason for denying the right to vote. Since laws said nothing about race, the Supreme Court aloud them to stand.

Jim Crow Laws Southern states and governments passed laws to separate whites and blacks in public and private facilities. The laws were then known as Jim Crow Laws After a show character that sang a comic song ending in “Jump, Jim Crow” The word segregation was used to describe the separation Segregation was in schools, hospitals, parks and transportation systems

Plessy vs. Ferguson A case reached the Supreme Court to test the constitutionally of Segregation. Homer A. Plessy, classified as a black man, because he was one eighth African American, he had been denied a seat in the railroad car reserved for white passengers. He challenged Louisiana’s law requiring railroad companies to segregate white and black passengers. The Railroad argued that the black facilities were the same as white.

Continued… The Supreme Court sided with the railroad. 1896, in Plessy vs. Ferguson ruled that segregation did not violate the Fourteenth Amendment. The decision established the doctrine of “Separate but equal” It allowed legal segregation for about 60 years. The “separate” part of the law was enforced more than the “equal” part

Definitions: Segregation: discriminating against a group, esp. on the basis of race: a segregated economy. Jim Crow Laws: laws that separate whites and blacks in public and private facilities Grandfather Clause: if your family could vote in the past, you have the right to vote also. Poll Tax: an annual tax that had to be paid to gain access to the voting booth Literacy test: an test to determine whether a person meets knowledge requirements for voting; a test of ability to read and write Lynching: putting a person to death by mob action without due process of law