1. Segregation and Discrimination

2. African Americans Fight Legal Discrimination
African Americans saw hostile and even violent opposition to their new political freedom during reconstruction.
By 1900, Southern states had developed legal policies to discriminate against and weaken African American power.

3. Voting Restriction
Literacy Tests
Poll Tax
Grandfather Clause

4. Jim Crow Laws
Laws enacted by southern states and local governments to separate white and black people in public and private facilities.
These were put into effect in:
Schools
Hospitals
Parks
Transportation Systems, etc.

5. Plessy v. Ferguson
An 1896 Supreme Court case that ruled that the separation of races in public accommodations was legal and did not violate the Fourteenth Amendment.
Thus, establishing the doctrine of “separate but equal”

6. Violence
African Americans (and others who did not follow the racial etiquette) faced severe punishment or death.
Blacks were often lynched
Between 1882 and 1892 more than 1400 Black men and women were shot, burned, or hanged without trial.

7. Discrimination in the North
Many Blacks sought refuge in the Northern states
Their situation hardly changed:
They saw themselves in segregated neighborhoods, low-paying jobs, and discrimination at work and with unions
Violence would erupt between Blacks and working-class whites
New York City race riot 1900

8. Group Discussion Topic
What examples of segregation and discrimination do you see today?
Who is affected?
What are the similarities/dissimilarities to the segregation and discrimination seen at the turn of the 20th century?

9. Examples of Today’s Discrimination
Title IX
Title VII
Arizona Immigration Law
Affirmative Action