Jim Crow Laws
Definition
These were state and local laws in the United States enacted between 1876 and 1965. They mandated racial segregation in all public facilities in Southern states of the former Confederacy, with a supposedly "separate but equal" status for African Americans.
Analogy
Think of Jim Crow Laws like a school cafeteria where students are separated by grade level. Except, instead of separating students by grade level, these laws separated people based on their race. And unlike a school cafeteria where all grades have access to the same food and resources, under Jim Crow Laws, African Americans were given inferior services and opportunities.
Related terms
Segregation: This is the enforced separation of different racial groups in a country, community or establishment.
Civil Rights Movement: A struggle by African Americans in the mid-1950s to late 1960s to achieve civil rights equal to those of whites, including equal opportunity in employment, housing, and education, as well as the right to vote.
Racial Discrimination: This refers to treating people differently based on their race or color rather than their abilities or qualifications.
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