The Jim Crow Laws

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Throughout American history, perceptions of gender and race have been constantly evolving. Individuals who have stepped out of these perceptions and constraints have been the very catalysts to changes that American has undergone. Without these individuals, America would not be moving forward in terms of acceptance of race, sex and gender. History has proven that it only takes the actions of one individual to influence American politics. In refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger, Rosa Parks gave birth to the civil rights movement. She refused to let the cultural ideologies of race and gender define her and instead became an inspiration to those who did not believe there would ever be social equality. In 1913, James and Leona McCauley …show more content…
These laws prescribed the segregation of races in society and defined the division between whites and colored individuals as a difference in social class. People of color were given separate facilities from whites that were almost never up to the same standard. This meant separate schools, bathrooms, hospitals, water fountains, and etcetera. The Jim Crow laws segregated whites and blacks in order to prevent social interaction. This was a time when white America was obsessed with keeping whites and any race of color from mixing. Alongside this fear, was perhaps a crisis of masculinity among white men. This is apparent in some of the Jim Crow laws that specifically regulate relationships between African American men and white women. It was stated that African American men could not shake hands with a white woman or light a white female’s cigarette. Additionally, an African American man was unable to comment about the appearance of a white female. These laws were justified in stating that African American men were more prone to raping women. However, this belief was more of an invented difference to maintain the divide between the races and allowed for the unfair treatment of a group of individuals based on the color of their …show more content…
African American men and women were seen inferior due to the color of their skin. When slavery was abolished, there was fear that African Americans would acquire jobs that had only been offered to whites in the past. Additionally, perceptions of gender differences between whites and blacks remained very similar to those during time of slavery. The 1950’s was a decade in which the raping of African American women and lynching were still taking place. Less than a year after Rosa Parks refused her seat, four white men raped a sixteen-year-old African American girl from the state of Mississippi. Perhaps their justification for committing such a crime was based on the idea that African American women are very sexual in nature, a primitive belief that goes back to times of slavery. This goes to show that Rosa Parks lived in an era in which racial violence was still very prominent and something she would have had to be concerned about on a day-to-day basis. Public response to the Montgomery Bus Boycott was also violent in nature and led white people to avoid speaking up if they were in favor of equal rights for African Americans. An example of this was the bombing of white boycott supporter, Pastor Graetz’s, home in 1956. While we look back and celebrate individuals such as Rosa Parks today, this was certainly not the reaction that she received during that
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