Segregation & Jim Crow Society

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Passage 1

In this portion of the text, the court is basically saying that the equal protection guarantees of the 14th Amendment only apply politically NOT socially or in this case social segregation laws.

The goal of the [Fourteenth] amendment was undoubtedly to enforce the absolute equality of the two races before the law, but, in the [social] nature of things, it could not have been intended to abolish distinctions based upon color... Laws permitting, and even requiring their separation...do not necessarily imply the inferiority of either race to the other, and have been generally, if not universally, recognized as within the [rights] of the state legislatures in the exercise of their police power.

In this portion of this text the Court is basically saying segregation laws are protected by states rights and are within the power of the state governments to regulate segregation laws.

Passage 2

In this portion of the text the Court breaksdown the argument made Homer Plessy (Defendant) --saying that his argument is that segregation places African Americans in an inferior or lower social status.

We consider the underlying fallacy of [Plessy’s] argument to consist in the assumption that the enforced separation of the two races stamps (gives) the colored race with a badge of inferiority. If this be so, it is not by reason of anything found in [segregation laws], but only because the colored race chooses to put that construction upon it.

In this portion of this text the Court is basically rejecting Plessy's argument saying that Segregation laws do not explicily put African Americans in an inferior social position. The court claims that the inferiority that African Americans may feel is not because of segregations laws but rather how African Americans are choosing to interpret and respond to them.

Sharecropping

Sharecropping is a form of debt-peonage. In this system African Americans rented land, tools and accomodations from a wealthy landowner. They also promised a share of the profits back to the landowner and were contractually obligated to pay off debt before they could leave the land. It was often the case that sharecroppers (farmers) ended up further in debt to the landowner each year they worked which kept them tied to the land working in a system that resembled enslavement.

Jim Crow Laws

Jim Crow Laws created a system of discrimination and inequality for African Americans. Jim Crow Laws included voter restrictions like the poll tax, literacy test, and grandfather clause which were designed to circumvent the voting rights granted by the 15th Amendment. Jim Crow voting restrictions created obstacles for African Americans that often prevented them from voting and restricted them politically. Jim Crow Laws also enforced a system of social segregation where African Americans were forced to use seperate and often inferior facilities than whites. This created a social system of inequality throughout the South.

Nadir of Race Relations

Lowest Point in race relations

The Nadir of Race Relations occurred after Reconstruction and refers to the lowest point for race relations in history. Instead of experiencing the full rights and privileges of American citizens, instead they were faced with systems designed to lower their status bringing them to a slave-like status. It is important to note that while the 13th amendment abolished slavery, freedmen were subject to systems like sharecropping, Jim Crow Laws and Black Codes. All of which were designed to socially, politically, and economically restrict African Americans to almost slave-like status.

Black Codes

Black Codes were state laws enacted in the South that restricted the freedom of African Americans after the 13th Amendment was ratified. In some cases, Black Codes banned African Americans from owning property, having a firearm, and having public gatherings. Although Black Codes were overturned with the 14th Amendment, they provided a legal framework for discrimination that will be encoded by Jim Crow Laws.

Passage 3

In this portion of the text the Court identifies another premise of Plessy's argument: Racial predjudice can only be overcome by the federal government intervening to pass equal rights laws. The Court opinion also rejects this claim.

The argument also assumes that social prejudices must be overcome by legislation, and that equal rights cannot be secured [without enforcing equal rights laws]. We cannot accept this proposition. If the two races are to meet upon terms of social equality, it must be the result of natural affinities, a mutual appreciation of each other’s merits, and a voluntary [choice] of individuals. . . . Legislation is powerless to eradicate racial instincts or to abolish distinctions based upon physical differences, and the attempt to do so can only result in [worsening] the difficulties of the present situation.

In this portion of the text the Court counters by saying that equality will only be achieved if both races choose to work on it on their own terms and eventually come to appreciate each others qualities.

In this portion of this text the Court concludes their opinion by saying equal rights laws and Supreme Court intervention will not change the racial predjudice. They later say that federal intervention will only make race relations worse.