The World of Jim Crow -- chapter 9, section 3 --

The Roots of Jim Crow ReconstructionReconstruction –Union troops enforce rights of former slaves in South –Blacks vote blacks into office 1877 = End of Reconstruction1877 = End of Reconstruction –No more Union troops to enforce rights –Freedoms begin to fade

Voting Restrictions Concern = too much political power for blacks if they voteConcern = too much political power for blacks if they vote 1890s: voting restrictions emerge1890s: voting restrictions emerge –Property requirement –Poll tax –Literacy tests –Grandfather clauses Limit black voting w/out specifyingLimit black voting w/out specifying

De Facto Segregation Segregation that simply results from tradition.Segregation that simply results from tradition. –It exists in fact, but not in law. Soon became legalizedSoon became legalized –Jim Crow laws required segregation in schools, parks, hospitals, theaters, restrooms, other public buildings. –Black facilities were always inferior.

Jim Crow Etiquette Keeping blacks “in their place”Keeping blacks “in their place” System of etiquette requiring blacks to show deference to whitesSystem of etiquette requiring blacks to show deference to whites –Whites say, “Boy” or “(first name)” –Blacks say, “Mister” or “Sir” Small breaches of etiquette:Small breaches of etiquette: –Loss of job for blacks –Subjected to violence

Lynching The murder of an accused person by a mob w/out a lawful trial.The murder of an accused person by a mob w/out a lawful trial. –Sometimes included a mock trial. –Sometimes victims were mutilated before being hanged or shot. Lynchers were rarely pursued, caught, convicted, or punished.Lynchers were rarely pursued, caught, convicted, or punished.

Northern Migration Many African Americans moved north  de facto discrimination –Schools, housing, employment Job competition in N. cities creates fear. RACE RIOTS! –NYC, 1900 –Springfield, Illinois, 1908 (not job-related)

It becomes LEGAL. Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896 –Homer Plessy (1/8 African) buys a first- class train ticket from New Orleans. He refuses to sit in the black only car. –He is arrested. Case reaches the Supreme Court.

Plessy Decision RULING: Segregation is legal as long as the separate facilities were equal to the whites’ facilities. –“Separate but Equal” The 14 th Amendment was “not intended to give Negroes social equality but only political and civil equality.”

Resisting Discrimination 1905: Niagara Movement vows –Never to accept “inferiority” –Never to bow to “oppression” –Never to apologize “before insult” Only 400 initial members They are listened to after the 1908 Springfield Race Riots.

NAACP Mary White Ovington –White social worker –Organized a national conference to address the “Negro Question” –Founding of the NAACP By 1914 –50 branches w/ 6,000 members –Worked through the court system