Jim Crow laws were racial segregation laws in the South that were imposed on African Americans. They were similar to Black Codes, which were restrictive laws enforced on newly freed slaves after the Civil War. Jim Crow laws banned blacks from such places as restaurants, hospitals, parks, schools, and barber shops. The outcome of these laws resulted in the creation of separate drinking fountains, public facilities, and entrances for blacks.
Early Jim Crow Laws
In 1875, Tennessee enacted the first Jim Crow law. By 1883, the U.S. Supreme Court took up the cause with its ruling that the Civil Rights Act of 1875 was unconstitutional. The Act had prohibited discrimination based on race in public places.
“Separate but Equal” Becomes Law
In 1896, the Supreme Court in Plessy v. Ferguson created the doctrine of “separate but equal.”
The U.S. Supreme Court further condoned discrimination in 1899 with its ruling in Cumming v. County Board of Education. It held that separate schools were valid even if comparable schools for blacks were not available.
The Dismantling of Jim Crow Laws
The Supreme Court in Guinn v. United States (1915) ruled that an Oklahoma law that denied the right to vote to some citizens was unconstitutional.
In 1917, in Buchanan v. Warley (1917) the Court held that a Louisville, Kentucky law could not require residential segregation.
In the decision in Sweatt v. Painter (1949), the Court ruled that the University of Texas Law School was required to provide the same educational opportunities for black and white students.
In McLaurin v. Oklahoma(1950), the Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitutional for the University of Oklahoma to require the plaintiff, a black student, to sit in a segregated section of the classroom, the library, and the cafeteria since it interfered with his ability to learn.
It was the Supreme Court's decision in 1954 in Brown v. Board of Education that overturned the Court's decision in Plessy. It held that separate schools were unequal, thereby striking down the doctrine of “separate but equal.” Its ruling led to the eventual desegregation of public schools.
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