Reintegration of the American South

Compare and contrast the experiences of African Americans in various US regions during the late 19th

Century.

The Rise of Jim Crow

Unlike Native Americans who were seen as foreign or outside the norm of American society, African Americans (especially in the South) had been a part of society and the economy for centuries.

Unsure of how to proceed following Reconstruction, many southern legislatures adopted laws to limit the rights of their former slaves.

Tactics

In order to limit the political power of African Americans in areas where they made up the majority of the population, legislatures tried many tactics, including:◦Poll taxes◦Literacy tests

Jim Crow

Known as “Jim Crow” laws, measures to enforce segregation became the norm in most southern states following Reconstruction.

The first passed in Tennessee in 1881 required separate cars for blacks and whites on trains.

Within a few years nearly every part of daily life was segregated in the South.

At the bus station, Durham, North Carolina, 1940.

A rest stop for bus passengers on the way from Louisville, Kentucky to Nashville, Tennessee, with

separate entrance for Blacks. 1943.

Movie theater’s "Colored" entrance, Belzoni, Mississippi. 1939.

Plessy was 7/8 white, an “octoroon” in the language of the day. He was chosen to challenge the law due to

his light complexion.

In 1890, Louisiana passed a law requiring separate cars for African American on trains.

Homer Plessy, an African America, bought a ticket and took a seat in the white only car to test the new law.

He was arrested.

Plessy v. Ferguson

Plessy’s case went to the US Supreme Court.

In its 1896 decision, the Court upheld segregation. Stating that “separate but equal” facilities for the two races did not violate the 14th Amendment.

The Plessy decision legalized segregation for the next 60 years.

Second Class Citizens?

The rules of social behavior in the south also reinforced the lower status of African Americans.

When African Americans refused to go along with these social mores, there would be consequences.

The worst outcome from such a situation was lynching.

Lynching

Lynching – an extrajudicial execution, often by hanging, carried out by a mob to right some perceived wrong.

Between 1882 and 1968 there were 4,743 lynching in the US.

79% of lynching deaths occurred in the south.

Washington v. Du Bois

Attempts by African Americans to fight racism followed one of two approaches.

Booker T. Washington

•Accept segregation for now

•Improve situation by acquiring farming and vocational skills.

•Founded Tuskegee Institute to provide those skills.

W. E. B. Du Bois

•Strive for FULL rights of citizens

•Founder of the Niagara Movement for equal rights (1905)

•This was the basis for the modern NAACP.