Voices of the Jim Crow South (1965) | Restored and Colorized

In 1965, filmmakers traveled through Lafayette County, Mississippi, recording interviews with local residents, educators, law enforcement officials, historians, and community leaders during one of the most turbulent periods in American history. These interviews capture firsthand perspectives on segregation, race relations, education, local politics, and daily life in Mississippi during the Civil Rights Movement.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJ3qDpJKcfo

Republicans are moving to eliminate majority-Black districts in the South

 https://www.youtube.com/shorts/uHowAyWYJDs

 

‘We will not go back to Jim Crow’: thousand of Mississippians rally for voting rights

Demonstration, held at historic location where the ‘Mississippi Plan’ was enacted, comes as southern states race to dilute Black voting power…

 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/may/20/mississippi-voting-rights-rally

 

MAGA “absolutely” wants to reinstitute Jim Crow

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/6yRKCmRlZVw

 

History Minute (100): A literacy test to vote

As mentioned earlier, Jim Crow laws in various states required that Black people pass a specially created literacy test in order to vote. This test was waived for White people, or they had a separate simpler one.

See here an example of a literacy test used in 1960 in the state of Louisiana: https://www.treeoflogic.com/literacy_test.htm

And here’s what Alabama used in 1965: https://secure.splcenter.org/page/67431/survey/1?locale=en-US

How well did you do on the tests?

History Minute (099): Who or What is Jim Crow?

Thirty-five states passed a variety of Jim Crow laws — enforcing segregation and discrimination— between the 1870s and 1960. Some of them remained in effect through 1970. These states were mainly in the South, but also included Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island. (Michigan had no Jim Crow laws.)

Many Jim Crow laws focused on segregating Blacks from Whites in schools, restaurants, rail cars, libraries, public parks, recreation centers, playgrounds, and businesses — such that they never would come into contact with one another. Others prohibited marriages or intimate relationships between White people and any non-White.

Here are some examples from a variety of states, showing the extremes states went to:

• Restaurants must provide separate rooms and separate entrances.
• Public facilities must provide separate bathrooms and drinking fountains, clearly marked for White or Black patrons.
• Separate schools must be established. Schools for Blacks must be at least a mile away from schools for Whites. If there are not enough Black students to provide a separate school, local officials were left to figure out some solution.
• Marriage between Whites and non-Whites (i.e., Black, Indian, Asian, etc.) were prohibited, and any that existed were declared void. 
• Courtships of mixed races were punishable by heavy fines and jail time. Any person born to a mixed race couple was prohibited from marrying anyone. Blacks and Whites cannot live in the same home. Distribution of any printed matter in support of mixed race relationships was punishable by fine and jail time.
• Building permits for non-Whites in any area primarily inhabited by Whites was prohibited. A home or property that was “covenanted” could never be sold to non-Whites.
• Black medical students (physicians, nurses) could not take classes at public hospitals.
• Universities and colleges could only accept Black students if the state’s own college for Black students had no comparable course and the school’s governing board approved. 
• Voting: 
• Literacy tests: In some cases required only of Blacks; in other cases separate easier tests given to Whites than those for Blacks.
• One state law declared that no Chinese native would ever be allowed to vote. The races of all candidates were to be printed on the ballots.
• Voters must pay a tax at the polls to be allowed to cast a ballot. $1.75 was paid by a Black voter in 1945, equal to over $36 today — money that poor people could ill afford to pay.

Read more:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Jim_Crow_law_examples_by_state

History Minute (096): Civil rights enforcement blocked by the Supreme Court and President Hayes

The guarantee of civil rights promised by the Civil Rights act of 1875 was short-lived. 

Numerous White business owners simply ignored the law in the South, and to a degree, also in the North. Federal enforcement efforts were weak and inconsistent. The severe economic depression of 1873 drew people’s attention, and Northern Whites tired of the many Federal government interventions in the South. 

Then in 1876, the Presidential election was close and the results disputed. As a compromise to settle the election, Republican Rutherford B. Hayes agreed to remove the last Federal troops from the South in exchange for dropping challenges to his being sworn in as President. Once the troops protecting civil rights were gone, a political coalition known as the Redeemers swung into action.

(Note: You may be accustomed to thinking of Democrats as pro-civil rights and Republicans as a party with a lot of white supremacists in their ranks. However, the opposite was true in the 1870’s; I point this out lest anyone be confused while reading the below paragraphs.)

The Redeemers comprised former White Southern Democrats — Confederates, wealthy planters, merchants, and others — who aimed to “redeem” the South by overthrowing Republican state governments, which were largely backed by freed Black people, Northern “carpetbaggers” and Southern “scalawags”.  They sought to restore white supremacy, limit Black civil rights, and reestablish Democratic Party dominance. They pledged a return to pre-Civil War social order. Their legal tactics included poll taxes, literacy tests, and violence through paramilitary groups like the White League and Red Shirts.  By 1877, Redeemers controlled nearly all Southern governments and went about passing Jim Crow and segregation laws.

As lawsuits were filed by Black people asserting their rights when barred from main floor seating in theaters, denied seats in the ladies section of a train, or refused hotel rooms, business owners asserted that the Federal government had no right to tell them what to do. When multiple such cases made their way to the Supreme Court, and consolidated as the Civil Rights Cases, the Court struck down as unconstitutional a substantial part of the the Civil Rights Act of 1875, saying it could be applied only to state actions, not those of private businesses or individuals.

The message to business owners was that they were free to discriminate. This paved the way for Jim Crow — a comprehensive system of laws and customs that mandated segregation and subjugation of Black Americans.

Read More:

• https://uslawexplained.com/civil_rights_act_of_1875
• https://www.perplexity.ai/search/who-were-the-redeemers-in-the-lGg00EKYRGi9jYTMckpMUg
• https://www.history.com/articles/carpetbaggers-and-scalawags
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Crow_laws

 

Rep. Byron Donalds says Black families were stronger during Jim Crow era - The Washington Post

During the Jim Crow era, Black Americans faced state and local laws that made racial discrimination legal. 

Jeffries listed several reasons he said Black people were not better off during the period, saying they could be lynched, denied a high-quality education and denied the right to vote — all "without consequence."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/06/05/byron-donalds-black-families-jim-crow/

Tennessee Republicans’ federal fund fight hearkens back to Jim Crow

"As a faith leader, I'm appalled by how many of the right-wing state legislators claim to have an allegiance to the Christian faith, but do not consider health care a fundamental right and reject money meant to help their constituents who struggle the most. My Jesus gave sight to the blind, caused the lame to walk and healed the sick. But these legislators have refashioned and repurposed Jesus as a white right-wing evangelical who hates the federal government as much as they do..."

https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/tennessee-republicans-anti-discrimination-federal-funds-rejection-rcna122143

'Half American' explores how Black WWII servicemen were treated better abroad (Dave Davies; Fresh Air podcast)

Though more than one million Black Americans served in WWII, their military uniforms couldn't protect them from systematic racism. Military segregation was maintained throughout the war, which meant separate barracks and recreation facilities, both at home and abroad.

"There was no strategic or tactical reason to do it," Delmont says. "The only reason the military maintained this racial segregation during the war was to appease white racial prejudice."

Black servicemen traveling to the Jim Crow South for training would pull down the shades on their train cars so that white townspeople wouldn't throw rocks at the windows. Racial epithets and threats of violence were part of daily life on Southern military bases, and off base, African Americans were restricted to the "Black" sections of town.

"If they stepped even a foot outside of that, they were threatened or attacked by white police or sheriffs," Delmont says...
Interview: 

https://www.npr.org/2022/11/07/1134756262/half-american-matthew-delmont-black-wwii

Law professor unearths cases of racial violence from the Jim Crow era (Dave Davies; Fresh Air podcast)

In her new book, By Hands Now Known, Margaret Burnham reports on little-known cases of racial violence in the Jim Crow era, including crimes that went unreported and murderers who were never punished...

Interview: 

https://www.npr.org/2022/09/27/1125350542/law-professor-unearths-cases-of-racial-violence-from-the-jim-crow-era

Clint Smith III on confronting the legacy of slavery (Jamil Smith; Vox Conversations podcast)

Vox's Jamil Smith talks with author Clint Smith III about his book How the Word Is Passed, which documents the writer's personal journey visiting sites that embody the legacy of American slavery. They discuss the power of this re-confrontation, how to bridge the gaps in education and awareness of America's past, and the experience of Black writers in a nation that is "a web of contradictions."

Interview: 

https://www.podbean.com/ew/dir-a9x75-fc556ca

Rand Paul offers an accidentally useful Jim Crow analogy in rationalizing his party’s illiberal shift - The Washington Post

…Justin Hill in March rationalized his opposition to the Medicaid expansion in remarkable terms. "Even though my constituents voted for this lie, I'm going to protect them," he said. "I am proud to stand against the will of the people."…

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/06/14/rand-paul-offers-an-accidentally-useful-jim-crow-analogy-rationalizing-his-partys-illiberal-shift/

Republicans block ‘Jim Crow jury’ reform in Louisiana House committee

Bill would have given hope to people in prison after split-jury verdicts…

https://lailluminator.com/2021/05/30/republicans-block-jim-crow-jury-reform-in-house-committee/

On the legacy of Jim Crow, Ted Cruz picks the wrong partisan fight

... Democrats have no reason to ignore this or sweep history under the rug: they eventually got it right, and dispatched the segregationists to the GOP, which welcomed them into the party fold. If either party has reason for embarrassment, it's the one that welcomed the segregationists, not the party that showed them the door...

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/legacy-jim-crow-ted-cruz-picks-wrong-partisan-fight-n1264530

Georgia is updating Jim Crow race laws. Now, he’s Dr James Crow

...This is voter suppression by skimming: discourage some people from voting with longer lines. Knock others off the lists through a roll purge, often after incorrectly determining that voters had moved, and force them to cast a provisional ballot. Pass an ID requirement, then close the department of motor vehicles offices in Black counties. Make it more difficult for others to get an absentee ballot. Standardize the early voting hours from 9am to 5pm, rather than 7am to 7pm, to make it that much harder for working people. Make fewer drop boxes available, and limit those hours to the workday as well...

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/apr/12/georgia-voting-jim-crow-laws-dr-james-crow

Jim Crow and America's Racism Explained

https://youtu.be/2_gOtZ--4WE

Author Susan Neiman on Germans/Holocaust vs. America/slavery – Germans Win. (The Al Franken podcast)

Neiman contrasts how Germans have come to terms with The Third Reich and how Americans have processed slavery, the Civil War, Jim Crow, lynching, and systemic racism.
Interview:
https://alfranken.com/listen/author-susan-nieman-on-germans-holocaust-vs-america-slavery-germans-win

Jim Crow and America's Racism Explained

https://youtu.be/2_gOtZ--4WE

Mississippi governor's race taking place under Jim Crow-era rules after judge refuses to block them

A federal judge ruled on Nov. 1 that he would not stop Mississippi voters from electing a governor on Tuesday under an old, Jim Crow-era election law that a civil rights lawsuit argues perpetuates “white supremacy” and violates the principle of “one-person, one-vote.” U.S. District Judge Daniel Jordan wrote that he had “grave concern” about the unconstitutionality of part of the law. But with the election nearing on Nov. 5, he ruled that time was too short to issue an injunction altering the state’s voting scheme for statewide officers...
http://theconversation.com/mississippi-governors-race-taking-place-under-jim-crow-era-rules-after-judge-refuses-to-block-them-126296