1. Introduction

Race and Racism

Back Entrance to Balcony at Segregated Movie Theater

Belzoni, Mississippi, 1939

Minstrel caricature of a Black man, circa 1840

Minstrel caricature of a Black man, circa 1840

Jim Crow

Another name for segregation was “Jim Crow” that referred to the laws and customs that enforced racial segregation.

The name came from a stage character in an 1830s minstrel show that represented Black people in crude stereotypes portrayed by White actors in Blackface.

Illustration of people of many races and ethnicities

The Social Construct of Race

Biologically, there is no such thing as race. There are no black, brown, and white “races.” Racial division in America was constructed by White colonists in the 17th century to justify the enslavement of Africans and their descendants.

Racism is based on the myth that one group of people is naturally and culturally superior to another group of people, based on the color of their skin.

The Rise of Jim Crow

The 13th Amendment abolished slavery in 1865. By 1870 Black men and women were granted full Constitutional rights as American citizens. Every southern state was determined to deny them these rights. By 1900 the South had passed laws that legally segregated Blacks from Whites in public spaces and denied them their Constitutional rights.

The Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s eliminated legal segregation, but racial inequality remained entrenched throughout the nation.