Arguably, the Jim Crow Laws were local and state laws that were enacted between the year 1876 and 1965 in the United States. Perhaps this was the name given to the introduction of the racial quota system and segregation in the southern part of the United States. The main thing that was going on was the reconstruction. Whereby, in 1865-1877 those who had been slaves received civil right protection from the federal law. Hence, this law was enacted when issues of segregation based on race was dominant. Perhaps, Jim Crow referred to a black character and a popular dance. In 1880s, the term received tremendous uses in that it was used to refer to laws, institutions, as well as practices that which came up as a result of sanctions. When the civil war ended the whites living in the southern wanted to eliminate black people in their freedom. They probably wanted all the blacks to remain in their status as slaves.
The Jim Crow laws had tremendous effects in the southern region of America. The laws introduced racial segregation on various aspects of life. The whites in the southern region based laws that seemed to be fair, and neutral. But this was not the case; the main goal of the laws was to repress all the black people (Litwack 3). It introduced a legal way of discriminating individuals who were black in the southern states of U.S. During this era the effect was that it creates two societies in the U.S. The blacks were deprived various government resources that the whites enjoyed. For example, the discrimination could be in terms of welfare, education, health, socialization, as well as culture. In fact the impacts went further to denying the blacks their civil right to vote.
The law led to discrimination in the drinking fountains, whereby it was labeled white and colored. In this case, the blacks in the southern states could not drink in the fountains that were labeled white. In addition, the education system was also affected, since the learning institutions were unequal and separate. In terms of employment, the blacks could only be employed in odd jobs, such as hostlers, crop help, waiters, and bellboys (Litwack 27). The transport system was also separate, the blacks sitting position was at the rear, whereas whites sat in front. Entertainment venues, such as the movie theater was not exceptional. In that, the blacks could enjoy the movie on the balcony and the whites enjoyed it at the main theater floor. In general perspective, Jim Crow laws led to separation, and racial discrimination (Alexander 12).
Conversely, the impacts of the Jim Crow laws have its impacts in America today. Despite the fact that this impact is indirect, it is evident that it still affects many people. To begin with, the people who were affected in the 1880s still suffer the impacts up to date. As a matter of fact, the impacts have been passed from one generation to another (Tischauser 17). The black people in the United States who are above sixty years could have been victims of segregated education system. Meaning they did not access good education facilities. Hence, such victims have had poor chances to perk up their lives, as well as the lives of the offspring’s. In general perspective, the black people to some extent are the subordinate members of society. The long term impacts of Jim Crow laws are the ones still influencing the lives of the black people (Alexander 38).
Undeniably, there are traces of Jim Crow laws today in the United States. Studies show that many African-American people are arrested for the sales and posses of marijuana and other illegal drugs. This is not by coincidence, the police targets the African-American drug dealers more that the whites (Drug Policy Alliance, “The War on Drugs or The New Jim Crow”). During Obama’s inauguration in 2008, he promised the people of United States equality. This was a clear show that inequalities still exist up to today. Today, American prisons and jails have more of African-Americans, meaning the law enforcement agencies still base arrests on racial discrimination. In general perspective, there are traces of the Jim Crow laws today.
Work Cited
Alexander, Michelle. The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the age of Colorblindness. The
New Press, 2010
Drug Policy Alliance. The War on Drugs or The New Jim Crow.
http://www.drugpolicy.org/docUploads/NewJimCrowFactSheet.pdf
Litwack, Leon. Trouble in Mind: Black Southerners in the Age of Jim Crow. Washington:
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 1999
Stetson, Kennedy. Jim Law Guide to the U.S.A: The Laws, Customs and Etiquette. Alabama:
University of Alabama Press, 2011
Tischauser, Leslie. Jim Crow Laws. California: Greenwood, 2012
