Segregation
In this paper I will discuss how the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendment played a role in the life of African Americans during 1877 and mid 1960s. This paper specifically deals with the question on whether or not the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendment were false hope for social equality among African-Americans and Whites. On my behalf, I would like to argue that there is some truth in such historical question because although the passage of the 13th, 14th and 15th amendment allowed African Americans to obtain freedom and the same legal protection of rights as whites they were discriminated against as second class citizens. African Americans were relegated to the status of second class citizens under the Jim Crow system because of the racial segregation laws added to states in the Constitution after the American Civil War.[1] In U.S. history, Jim Crow was any laws that enforced racial segregation in the South.[2] In addition to the segregation laws added, the Supreme Court legitimized Jim Crow laws and the Jim Crow way of life because of the case of Plessy v. Ferguson(1986).[3] Thus, the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendment seemed to be false hope for social equality between Whites and African-Americans because even though they were considered equals, southern and border states began restricting the liberties of blacks.
The Jim Crow system believed that whites were superior to blacks and that any relation amongst the two would destroy America, therefore the two racial groups were segregated. Jim Crow system included signs regulating social interactions between the two racial groups. According to the Ferris State University webpage, "Jim Crow signs were placed above water fountains, door entrances and exits, and in front of public facilities. There were separate hospitals for blacks and whites, separate prisons, separate public and private schools, separate churches, separate cemeteries, separate public restrooms, and separate public accommodations. In most instances, the black facilities were grossly inferior -- generally, older, less-well-kept. In other cases, there were no black facilities..." Although the two groups were segregated, if the blacks violated any of the Jim Crow laws by going into "Whites Only" areas the white would punish them. One of the worst forms of punishment was lynching. Whites believed that if necessary they would use violence to keep blacks at the bottom of racial hierarchy; it was also their form of "social control." African-Americans did not have resources to protect themselves and their rights because the criminal justice system was all-white.
I would like to conclude by contending that the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendment was false hope for social equality among African-Americans and Whites because the amendments did not protect those liberties of the blacks. African-Americans were said to be free and equal according to the three amendments, but whites restricted their liberties and treated them as inferiors.
[1] Gerald Webster. The electoral geographies of two segregationist (“Jim Crow”) referenda in Alabama.
[2] Article from the Encyclopedia Britannica. Accessed May 12, 2014. From website: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/303897/Jim-Crow-law
[3] Derived from What is Jim Crow? Accessed May 12, 2014 Website: http://www.ferris.edu/htmls/news/jimcrow/what.htm
The Jim Crow system believed that whites were superior to blacks and that any relation amongst the two would destroy America, therefore the two racial groups were segregated. Jim Crow system included signs regulating social interactions between the two racial groups. According to the Ferris State University webpage, "Jim Crow signs were placed above water fountains, door entrances and exits, and in front of public facilities. There were separate hospitals for blacks and whites, separate prisons, separate public and private schools, separate churches, separate cemeteries, separate public restrooms, and separate public accommodations. In most instances, the black facilities were grossly inferior -- generally, older, less-well-kept. In other cases, there were no black facilities..." Although the two groups were segregated, if the blacks violated any of the Jim Crow laws by going into "Whites Only" areas the white would punish them. One of the worst forms of punishment was lynching. Whites believed that if necessary they would use violence to keep blacks at the bottom of racial hierarchy; it was also their form of "social control." African-Americans did not have resources to protect themselves and their rights because the criminal justice system was all-white.
I would like to conclude by contending that the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendment was false hope for social equality among African-Americans and Whites because the amendments did not protect those liberties of the blacks. African-Americans were said to be free and equal according to the three amendments, but whites restricted their liberties and treated them as inferiors.
[1] Gerald Webster. The electoral geographies of two segregationist (“Jim Crow”) referenda in Alabama.
[2] Article from the Encyclopedia Britannica. Accessed May 12, 2014. From website: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/303897/Jim-Crow-law
[3] Derived from What is Jim Crow? Accessed May 12, 2014 Website: http://www.ferris.edu/htmls/news/jimcrow/what.htm
Bibliography
Encyclopædia Britannica Online, s. v. "Jim Crow law," accessed May 12, 2014, http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/303897/Jim-Crow-law.
Foster, Gaines M. 2013. "Jim Crow Laws." History Teacher 46, no. 4: 627-628. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost
Summers, Martin. 2013. "Manhood Rights in the Age of Jim Crow: Evaluating "End-of-Men" Claims in the Context of African American History. Boston University Law Review 93, no. 3: 745-767. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost
Webster, Gerald R., and Nicholas Quinton. 2010."The electoral geographies of two segregationist (“Jim Crow”) referenda in Alabama." Political Geography 29, no. 7: 370- 380. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost
2012. "What Was Jim Crow?." What was Jim Crow. http://www.ferris.edu/htmls/news/jimcrow/what.htm.
Foster, Gaines M. 2013. "Jim Crow Laws." History Teacher 46, no. 4: 627-628. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost
Summers, Martin. 2013. "Manhood Rights in the Age of Jim Crow: Evaluating "End-of-Men" Claims in the Context of African American History. Boston University Law Review 93, no. 3: 745-767. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost
Webster, Gerald R., and Nicholas Quinton. 2010."The electoral geographies of two segregationist (“Jim Crow”) referenda in Alabama." Political Geography 29, no. 7: 370- 380. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost
2012. "What Was Jim Crow?." What was Jim Crow. http://www.ferris.edu/htmls/news/jimcrow/what.htm.