The African American Civil Rights Movement As a Long Lasting Process of Struggle for Freedom

1.2.3 Jim Crow Laws

The Jim Crow Laws were believed to be legalized in 1890 when disfranchisement provisions appeared in the state Constitution of Mississippi but their origins can be traced back to individual southern states much earlier. Between 1870 and 1884 eleven southern states legally banned interracial marriages. This attitude openly expressed the opinion of whites concerning their supremacy over blacks and galvanized their efforts in maintaining their racial purity. Prior to 1888, segregated schools for black and white children were established and bans on blacks attending white schools and vice versa were passed. A further step was taken in public transportation, namely that railroad cars were separated for black and white passengers. The efforts put forth by whites in segregating restaurants, hotels, theatres, parks, and even cemeteries was not surprising. The intention of white Southerners was to avoid as much as possible their black fellow citizens (ibid.).

All efforts were covered by the phrase separate but equal. In 1896, the Supreme Court heard Plessy v. Fergusson and separate but equal segregation became the law of the land (ibid.). Southern states considered the decision as their victory and began with legal segregation. Harvard Sitkoff mentions that Atlanta passed a law that forbade blacks and whites from visiting the municipal zoo at the same time, while Mississippi insisted on separated taxicabs, and Oklahoma segregated its telephone booths. Florida and North Carolina did not permit white students to use textbooks that had been touched by black students (1993: 5). Sitkoff further states that “there was one hospital bed available for every 139 American whites in the 1920s, but only one for every 1,941 blacks” (ibid.: 6). Governmental action ensured that African Americans were kept at the bottom of the society.

Not only sharing of public facilities with blacks represented a threat for white citizens. Their concern over the possible increasing power base of black people caused them to establish poll taxes and literacy tests, along with requiring them to understand selected portions of the state constitution. White primaries, where “only whites could vote in the Democratic Party primary contests” (Davis), and the grandfather clause were also used to manipulate potential black voters. These actions had the active support of the KKK and were widespread. Southern states recorded decline of nearly fifty percent registered voters which continued until the Voting Rights act of 1965 (ibid.). Sitkoff reports for instance, that “black voter registration plummeted 96 percent in Louisiana between 1896 and 1900” (1993: 5). In a similar manner the number of black voters fell in Alabama so around 3,500 and in Mississippi fewer than a thousand. For comparison, the adult black population of these two states was more than 300,000 each (ibid.).

The 14th and 15th Amendments should have ensured the citizenship of African Americans with no restrictions due to race or color concerning the right to vote. Two Civil Rights Acts enacted in 1866 and 1875 should have guaranteed civil rights to all persons born in the United States and equal rights for blacks in public places. Finally, three Enforcement Acts of the early 1870s directed against racial discrimination and cruel behavior on the part of whites against blacks should have added further protection (Davis).

1.2.4 Life under Jim Crow

Society at the end of the nineteenth century offered very little to blacks yet they still managed to exploit it in their own favor. The situation helped lead to the establishment of black ghettos. If they had not been wanted in the white society, they created their own communities and social places. Various self-help associations such as social clubs, lodges or volunteer fire departments were organized in many cities and they provided places to escape from the white world. In addition blacks could live here in dignity and without rejection. Other places where they could express their black independence and resistance to Jim Crow included all-black colleges whose foundations were encouraged by mainly white philanthropists in the North (ibid.).

African Americans enjoyed their freedoms for a short decade but it was again curtailed after 1877. Ten years of Reconstruction, when they could exercise their rights, were still living in black souls and they had not stopped thinking of ways to get them back. With a good education African Americans could rise from the bottom of society and improve their situation. Yet the journey to equality was long because they could not openly resist the violent tactics of whites. Peaceful, quiet and patient behavior had to be practiced so as not to irritate whites too much. They could not display their actual characters and their real feelings had to be hidden.

Churches that they built for themselves became an essential place where they could express their feelings and combat the white man’s unjust behavior through their songs and stories. Religion provided hope, an escape, provided recognition and gave power. Moreover, the most impoverished blacks were accepted there and were provided with help. Religion rendered relief to black souls as well as satisfying the material needs of its members. Sick and elderly people were treated in congregations, and others could expect assistance when seeking jobs. Religion became a synonym for solidarity, added to group cohesion, improved self-respect and underscored black history and its own traditions (ibid.).

As mentioned above, churches brought African Americans together. It was no surprise that besides black churches shops and services designed to serve black people began to develop as well. Stores, restaurants, banks, insurance companies, barber and beauty shops, funeral parlors and law offices provided a base for emerging black neighborhoods. By 1900 American society was divided between black and white citizens with their separate places to live, work, visit or enjoy. Still, differences remained between the South and North. Preachers and leaders of black neighborhoods in the North could more openly challenge the system and encourage black social feeling. By contrast, southern blacks could not speak openly because, as already stated, it could have had disastrous consequences for them (ibid.).

1.2.5 Summary

The fact that whites underestimated blacks was their mistake. African Americans were not silly people without dignity. It was true that before they gained their freedom, whites had deprived them of it. Thirty years of living under Jim Crow, however, provided blacks with time to review the course of their lives and to realize that Abraham Lincoln had desired a different future for them than what they were receiving. African Americans wanted to exercise their self-confidence and they longed for equality and an appreciation for their work. The desire to nurture their children in a society which would fulfill the words freedom and equality was strong, but it had to remain buried deep in their souls.

Blacks had never experienced anything else than refusals and humiliation. They were painfully aware of almost certain death in case of showing defiance against Jim Crow. The fact that there was no one who would punish or judge whites for their racial hatred and connected behavior, only convinced them of the correctness of their actions. Tactics practiced by the KKK verged on extreme insolence and, as described below, along with whites’ mob violence contributed to the emergence of black self-awareness as well as to forming of the first organizations to defend black rights and freedoms.