the public's response
The 13th, 14th and 15th amendment provided false hopes for equality among black and whites. After democrats gained control of state legislatures, they began to deprive African Americans of their rights through Jim Crow Laws. According to Dr. Pilgrim of Ferris University, “under Jim Crow, African Americans were regulated to the status of second class citizens.”[1] Whites’ attitude toward African American’s protected rights is even expressed through the name, “Jim Crow,” which originates from a minstrel song that discriminated against the mannerisms of blacks.[2] These laws kept whites at the top of the social hierarchy and blacks at the bottom. From the implementation of the Jim Crow laws (1877) to the buildup of the civil rights movement (twentieth century), both Black and Whites expressed their support or opposition of the laws through the organizations they formed.
A social and political terrorist group known as the Klu Klux Klan formed in 1868 to express their opposition towards the civil rights African Americans gained during the reconstruction era. [3] Politically defeating the Republican Party and maintaining white supremacy, were the organization’s primary goals. Members of the Klan paraded around at night in costume and threatened or assassinated Republican leaders. By 1871 the white conservative Democratic party regained control in the upcoming election.[4] The group’s “…political terrorism was effective…,” but their social terrorism, “…failed to destroy the cultural and social independence blacks had gained with emancipation.”[5] In attempt to, “…drive out—through death or expulsion—all blacks,…” the Klan burned down black communities including homes and churches, looted the community’s businesses, and attacked or lynched the members of the community.[6]
Members of the Klu Klux Klan were less merciful than unaffiliated whites in southern borders, but none the less white southerners were also responsible for lynching African Americans within the city, especially during the summer of 1919. Race riots broke out in black communities in over two dozen cities, where police officers either failed to stop the white attackers or joined in.[7] In opposition to both the Jim Crow laws, and the race riots a group of white liberals issued a call for meeting to discuss racial justice. They formed an organization with a goal to, “…secure for all people the rights guaranteed in the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendment to the U.S. constitution.”[8]This organization known as the National Association for Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), has become the most widely recognized grassroots-based civil rights organization, that would prove separate but equal unconstitutional in the Brown v. Board of Education case.[9] Although the NAACP is the most wide known civil right organization, many other civil rights organizations took form during the Jim Crow era.
The Committee of Improving the Industrial Conditions Among Negroes in NY, League for the Protection of Colored Women, and the Committee on Urban Conditions Among Negroes were all organizations created during the Jim Crow era that joined to form the Urban League. [10]The Urban League organization was created to help rural Southern blacks migrate to the North. The northern states were not as dangerous as the southern states, but blacks continued to face discrimination in both regions. During this time many African Americans obtained a middle class status and began to challenge the Jim Crow laws.
Whether American citizens supported or opposed the Jim Crow laws, they expressed their opinion through the voice of different organizations. The unity formed by African Americans in response to the Jim Crow laws built a strong foundation for the civil rights movement to come that would help declare blacks and whites as equal citizens.
[1]Dr.DavidPilgrim,"WhatWasJimCrow?,"WhatwasJimCrow,(accessedMay12,2014), http://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/what.htm.
[2] Leon F. Litwack, "Jim Crow," Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History, Ed. Colin A. Palmer. 2nd ed. Vol. 3. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2006, 1176-1178. U.S. History in Context, (accessed May 12, 2014).
[3] Jonathan M. Bryant, "Ku Klux Klan in the Reconstruction Era," (accessed May 12, 2014), New Georgia Encyclopedia,http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/ku-klux-klan-reconstruction-era.
[4] Jonathan M. Bryant, “Ku Klux Klan in the Reconstruction Era,”
[5] Jonathan M. Bryant, "Ku Klux Klan in the Reconstruction Era," (accessed May 12, 2014), New Georgia Encyclopedia,http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/ku-klux-klan-reconstruction-era.
[6] Dr. David Pilgrim, “What Was Jim Crow?,” What Was Jim Crow, (accessed May 12, 2014), http://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/what.htm
[7]Dr. David Pilgrim, “What Was Jim Crow?”
[8] National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, "NAACP: 100 Years of History," NAACP, (accessed May 12, 2014), http://www.naacp.org/pages/naacp-history.
[9]National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, "NAACP: 100 Years of History,"
[10]RichardWormser,"UrbanLeague,"PBS,(accessedMay12,2014), http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/stories_org_urban.html.
A social and political terrorist group known as the Klu Klux Klan formed in 1868 to express their opposition towards the civil rights African Americans gained during the reconstruction era. [3] Politically defeating the Republican Party and maintaining white supremacy, were the organization’s primary goals. Members of the Klan paraded around at night in costume and threatened or assassinated Republican leaders. By 1871 the white conservative Democratic party regained control in the upcoming election.[4] The group’s “…political terrorism was effective…,” but their social terrorism, “…failed to destroy the cultural and social independence blacks had gained with emancipation.”[5] In attempt to, “…drive out—through death or expulsion—all blacks,…” the Klan burned down black communities including homes and churches, looted the community’s businesses, and attacked or lynched the members of the community.[6]
Members of the Klu Klux Klan were less merciful than unaffiliated whites in southern borders, but none the less white southerners were also responsible for lynching African Americans within the city, especially during the summer of 1919. Race riots broke out in black communities in over two dozen cities, where police officers either failed to stop the white attackers or joined in.[7] In opposition to both the Jim Crow laws, and the race riots a group of white liberals issued a call for meeting to discuss racial justice. They formed an organization with a goal to, “…secure for all people the rights guaranteed in the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendment to the U.S. constitution.”[8]This organization known as the National Association for Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), has become the most widely recognized grassroots-based civil rights organization, that would prove separate but equal unconstitutional in the Brown v. Board of Education case.[9] Although the NAACP is the most wide known civil right organization, many other civil rights organizations took form during the Jim Crow era.
The Committee of Improving the Industrial Conditions Among Negroes in NY, League for the Protection of Colored Women, and the Committee on Urban Conditions Among Negroes were all organizations created during the Jim Crow era that joined to form the Urban League. [10]The Urban League organization was created to help rural Southern blacks migrate to the North. The northern states were not as dangerous as the southern states, but blacks continued to face discrimination in both regions. During this time many African Americans obtained a middle class status and began to challenge the Jim Crow laws.
Whether American citizens supported or opposed the Jim Crow laws, they expressed their opinion through the voice of different organizations. The unity formed by African Americans in response to the Jim Crow laws built a strong foundation for the civil rights movement to come that would help declare blacks and whites as equal citizens.
[1]Dr.DavidPilgrim,"WhatWasJimCrow?,"WhatwasJimCrow,(accessedMay12,2014), http://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/what.htm.
[2] Leon F. Litwack, "Jim Crow," Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History, Ed. Colin A. Palmer. 2nd ed. Vol. 3. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2006, 1176-1178. U.S. History in Context, (accessed May 12, 2014).
[3] Jonathan M. Bryant, "Ku Klux Klan in the Reconstruction Era," (accessed May 12, 2014), New Georgia Encyclopedia,http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/ku-klux-klan-reconstruction-era.
[4] Jonathan M. Bryant, “Ku Klux Klan in the Reconstruction Era,”
[5] Jonathan M. Bryant, "Ku Klux Klan in the Reconstruction Era," (accessed May 12, 2014), New Georgia Encyclopedia,http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/ku-klux-klan-reconstruction-era.
[6] Dr. David Pilgrim, “What Was Jim Crow?,” What Was Jim Crow, (accessed May 12, 2014), http://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/what.htm
[7]Dr. David Pilgrim, “What Was Jim Crow?”
[8] National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, "NAACP: 100 Years of History," NAACP, (accessed May 12, 2014), http://www.naacp.org/pages/naacp-history.
[9]National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, "NAACP: 100 Years of History,"
[10]RichardWormser,"UrbanLeague,"PBS,(accessedMay12,2014), http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/stories_org_urban.html.
bibliography
Brown, Dawn. "The Jim Crow Era." http://chnm.gmu.edu/7tah/units_7tah.php?seventahid=9 (accessed May 12, 2014).
Bryant, Jonathan M.. "Ku Klux Klan in the Reconstruction Era." New Georgia Encyclopedia. http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/ku-klux-klan-reconstruction-era (accessed May 12, 2014).
Dr.Pilgrim,David.“WhatWasJimCrow?.“WhatwasJimCrow.http://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/what.htm (accessed May 12, 2014).
Litwack, Leon F. "Jim Crow." Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History. Ed. Colin A. Palmer. 2nd ed. Vol. 3. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2006. 1176-1178. U.S. History in Context. (accessed May 12, 2014).
Richard,Wormser."UrbanLeague."PBS.http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/stories_org_urban.html (accessed May 12, 2014).
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. "NAACP: 100 Years of History." NAACP. http://www.naacp.org/pages/naacp-history (accessed May 12, 2014).
RiceUniversity."NAACPHistory." NAACP History. http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~naacp/history.html (accessed May 12, 2014).
Bryant, Jonathan M.. "Ku Klux Klan in the Reconstruction Era." New Georgia Encyclopedia. http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/ku-klux-klan-reconstruction-era (accessed May 12, 2014).
Dr.Pilgrim,David.“WhatWasJimCrow?.“WhatwasJimCrow.http://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/what.htm (accessed May 12, 2014).
Litwack, Leon F. "Jim Crow." Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History. Ed. Colin A. Palmer. 2nd ed. Vol. 3. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2006. 1176-1178. U.S. History in Context. (accessed May 12, 2014).
Richard,Wormser."UrbanLeague."PBS.http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/stories_org_urban.html (accessed May 12, 2014).
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. "NAACP: 100 Years of History." NAACP. http://www.naacp.org/pages/naacp-history (accessed May 12, 2014).
RiceUniversity."NAACPHistory." NAACP History. http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~naacp/history.html (accessed May 12, 2014).