Jim Crow laws (named after a black character in minstrel shows) were rigid laws used to discriminate against blacks. They were established in southern states and Border States between the 1870’s through the mid 1960’s. These laws were put into place to support the idea that blacks were inferior the whites. Pro-segregationists believed that any interaction between the black and white races would lead to a race that would cause the downfall and destruction of America. Jim Crow laws were used to insure that no blacks and whites would intermarry or
Furthermore in the Southern states of USA the abolition movement was resented. Plantation owners were unwilling to end slavery because it provided them with a free labour force. Many white Americans had justified slavery by thinking of slaves as racially inferior, as people without human needs, rights or dignity. The legal system had supported these racist views, and the rights of the plantation owners for many years. After 1890 many Southern governments passed a series of laws that set up a system of segregation that would last until the mid-twentieth century.
Racism is a means to an end, as oppressors employ racist measures in order to achieve power over another group. Wright shows numerous times throughout the novel that racism breeds irrational actions, and points out many times when Southern whites abuse blacks for no reason other than to vent their own frustration. This abuse and subordination of blacks also serves an economic function for the whites, as the blacks are the basic laborers who almost single-handedly support the white economy, for meager pay. Whites abuse blacks in order to keep them in a position where their service would empower
Birmingham, Alabama was one of the most tightly segregated cities at the time (“Alabama”). There were racial segregation laws called Jim Crow Laws enacted between 1876-1965. They separated black and white schools, forbade interracial marriages, and had restaurants and stores that only accepted white citizens. They also had separate hospitals, parks, army troops, and African Americans couldn’t even walk on the same sidewalks as the white people (“Racism in the 1930s”). Not soon after, trains and buses started reserving seats for white citizens forcing blacks to
This assumption that black people are lower in class than anyone else, is a direct result of the unfair views of society. These inequalities are displayed in a number of ways, most prominently through the wrongful accusation and, afterwards, the unjust trial of Tom Robinson. The rigid social structure of Southern society, as well as the racial prejudice of the 1930s, allowed Bob Ewell to accuse Tom of a crime he did not commit. The quote: “Atticus had used every tool available to free men to save Tom Robinson, but in the secret courts of men's hearts Atticus had no case.” is Scout’s way of saying that society’s views led to the inability of the jury to look past the colour of Tom’s skin, to reach a fair sentence. In Lord of the Flies, lack of equality also directly leads to a few of the incidents on the island.
He is too focused on gaining his “manhood “or proving himself to both the community and others, which is an inherent need for someone who is low on the hierarchy of people. Mayberry articulates her analysis of the effects of all of these relationships very well in her article, and I generally took the main idea to be that the black male turns to be underdeveloped due to his position at the start (disdained by whites) while at the same time, envying them and wanting to be better than
This was something that happen to many slaves when they were being punished and it may have been just because they were working to slow. “Uncle Tom” became an insult, conjuring an image of an old black man eager to please his white masters and happy to accept his own position of inferiority. Such things made northern furious and brought them to tears and slavery more emotional to people who had considered it a distant system of labor. They had begun to realize that this distant system of labor was exploiting the black race. But for those who were for slavery were also infuriated because it was supposedly a false depiction of slavery.
It would be thought that he was trying to rob or rape somebody,” (44). In the minds of white people, black people, especially black men, are a threat. They use fear as a just reason to subjugate black Americans. Bigger knows the white world is set against him and he can’t do anything about it. The
Some black males were not allowed to vote, while others lost employment opportunities. These harsh laws followed up underneath the Fugitive Slave Law. The constant undermining view of African Americans being inferior to white people in every way continued to spread throughout the northern states. During 1820-1860, the American society was very selfish. The average American focus was not on the inhumane treat against the black people but the competiveness that was caused because of the black people.
Jim Crow Laws had a major influential impact on the United States during its time period due to its cruel ways. Jim Crow Laws were a system of racial apartheid laws dominant in the South beginning in the 1890s continuing for three quarters of a century. The laws affected everyday life, separating Whites and African Americans by posting signs to where either ethnicity could go to school, restrooms, drinking fountains, buses, restaurants, and more. Jim Crow Laws claimed to have treated African Americans the same as Whites through the quote “separate but equal”. Although the laws abided by that particular quote it was visible that African American public facilities low grade quality wasn’t nearly comparable to those of Whites.