Paper Topic:

African American experience in USA

Table of Contents

Introduction .2

Thesis .3

The Beginning .3

The Turning Point .7

Integration .8

The 21st Century .10

Conclusion .11

Works Cited .12

SEGREGATION IN BLACK AMERICA

Introduction

From the mid-1600s to 1865 , the majority of Black people were slaves The end of slavery was only the beginning of a long struggle for Black Americans . Following that , many southern state and local governments began reinstating the black codes . Blacks were no longer slaves , but they weren 't blacks could

own property . However , blacks could not own firearms or serve on juries

Laws enforcing segregation became known as Jim Crow laws . The term Jim Crow ' originated in the early nineteenth century . He was originally a character in a song about a black man . Thomas `Daddy ' Rice , a white minstrel , performed a routine called `Jump Jim Crow , in which he would use burned cork to blacken his face and dress as a beggar . Rice imitated the dancing , singing , and demeanor generally ascribed to Negro character

Louisiana was among the last of the southern states to adopt Jim Crow laws since there was a large population of free Blacks living there even before the Civil War . In 1890 , the Louisiana state legislature passed the Separate Car Act , mandating separate but equal accommodations for blacks and whites on all in-state passenger railways In 1892 , a small group of black professionals in New Orleans Louisiana , challenged the constitutionality of a Louisiana law that ed separate accommodations for blacks and whites on railroads that operated wholly within the state . They were known as the Citizens Committee . Homer Plessy , a light-skinned black man and shoemaker agreed to be the guinea pig

On June 7 of that year , he bought a first-class ticket to Covington Louisiana from New Orleans . He sat in a car that was designated for white passengers . Because of his fair skin , nobody took notice at first . However , since the entire scene had been arranged by the Citizens ' Committee , he was asked to move to a car reserved for black passengers . He was arrested after refusing to give up his seat in a train car reserved for whites

This event led to the legal action that went all the way to the United States Supreme Court . The presiding judge was Justice John Howard Ferguson . In 1896 , the Supreme Court ruled in the case of Plessy v Ferguson that segregation was constitutional as long as the facilities open to blacks were equal to those reserved for whites . However , in reality , they were separate and unequal . Segregation was primarily seen in the South and was in effect for fifty-eight years

thesis

Although segregation ended fifty-four years ago , people 's perceptions still remain the same . A racial divide still exists . Public schools that are predominantly Black or Latino are inferior to predominantly white schools . Certain residential areas and houses of worship are segregated . Although Blacks have made much progress over the past four decades , race still matters in this country

The beginning

Following the Plessy v...

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