Jim Crow Laws and Racial Segregation - Research Paper Example

Jim Crow Laws and Racial Segregation Jim Crow Laws and Racial Segregation The Jim Crow Laws are understood to be the discrimination laws that were established after reconstruction period, and the laws were implemented and adhered to until 1965 when they were abolished. They were practiced in Southern United States where there was racial segregation. Though the citizens were offered same nature of services and opportunities, the conditions that were subjected to the Black Americans were inferior as compared to those that were offered to the White Americans. Consequently, there was systematization of some economic sectors, and educational sectors because the quality of education in institutions that admitted Whites was higher than in institutions that admitted the Blacks. Numerous social disadvantages were evident during the period when the Jim Crow laws were followed in the Southern America, and this contributed to fewer developments from both state and local levels. The Blacks were not offered significant opportunities in political sectors, educational sectors, and also they were not allowed to make investments in the regions. The greatest major reasons for the American Civil War were to eradicate racial segregation in the United States, and this was to be achieved through removal of the Jim Crow laws of racial segregation. The laws mandated the discrimination of public schools, public transport, and surprisingly the public places. They allowed for segregation of restrooms and the restaurants for the whites and the blacks. Jim Crow laws created various feeling from Americans and other parts of the globe, because being the most superior nation in the world America was expected to be showing solidarity and unity between the blacks and the whites. However, the laws were overruled in 1964after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was established. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 remained significant in the discarding of Jim Crow laws. Thus, the main focus of this paper is to investigate the consequences the American Civil War on the issue of Jim Crow laws and racial segregation in southern states of America. Consequences of Jim Crow Laws and Racial Segregation in Southern States of America Racism is a term that has been in use for millions of years, where people tend to discriminate other due to the color of their skin and ethnicity. In the United States, racism was famous in the 17th and 18th Century colonial era, during the time when assumption was made on the North American as associates of the global British Empire. One of the powerful consequences of the racism as retrieved from Southern America when Jim Crow laws were being exercised was an uneven quality of education in the states. The whites received high-quality education as compared to the institutions that enrolled the blacks. Such an aspect resulted because education was a new practice to the blacks back from their ancestors, and gaining new concepts that were taught to them was a challenge1. The educators and professionals that were hired in the institutions that enrolled the whites were trained and equipped with sufficient knowledge regarding various fields such as medicine, engineering, and education among others. However, most of the educators in black institutions were inexperienced because most of them were blacks who were trained through hard conditions. The educational resources and materials in the institutions with whites were readily available because of the financial stability of the whites as compared to the blacks, where poverty has overruled them. Most of the ancestors of the blacks were slaves, and thus they had poor financial backgrounds, and this limited them from accessing high quality educational materials. The state governments also limited the findings that they directed to the black institutions because they did not find them as normal human beings. Since they connected the dark color to evil, they found there was no need of supporting the blacks. The governments did not find any beneficial attributes in the blacks, and some found that educating the blacks was wastage of time and resources. The fact that the government and the powerful people in the states were whites suffices to argue that the blacks were discriminated in almost every educational sectors, and hence in job opportunities. Considering the element of employment and job opportunities, the whites had better chances to get jobs irrespective of their academic qualifications. They undervalued the skills, knowledge and expertise of the blacks because they never thought that blacks could deliver just like the whites or better. The rate at which the blacks were hired in large organizations was very low, and equally the rate of their deployment was also high. It did not imply that they never performed their duties as expected, but due to the hatred that they had against the blacks. Such a perspective lowered the living standards of the blacks because they could not afford the basic needs due to lack of well-paying jobs regardless of the education that they had. The blacks found less need of education because they secured no jobs that suited their academic qualifications. The white color jobs were considered to belong to the whites and not the whites, and this follows the fact that it was relatively hard to find a black in the executive positions in any organization. The business organizations and companies continued to fail in performance because of incompetence of the whites they hired in the managerial positions at the expense of the blacks. Mulling over to the health sector, racism that was supported by the Jim Crows laws caused uneven distribution of medical and health facilities and resources. The health care facilities that were designed for the whites had better medical services and treatment as compared to those segregated for the blacks. The qualifications of the medical professionals and nursing practitioners in the whites’ hospitals were high, hence the quality of services and treatments that were offered. On the other hand, the medics in the blacks’ hospitals were inexperienced and incompetent, and this increased the death rates of the blacks as compared to the whites. Children and women from black families continued to die because of poor medical services and incompetent medical practitioners. The governments never supported the medical centers of the blacks, and due to lack of funds, there were fewer drugs in their hospitals. The medical cases that were emergency and complicated such as heart attacks were not addressed by black medical practitioners because they lacked experience and skills. Additionally, the treatment machinery and facilities that could be used to address such complications were not available in the hospitals segregated for the blacks. In return, the mortality rates of black women and children increased due to issues related to poor medical attention during pregnancy and delivery2. Maternity services such as Cesarean Sections (CS) were not available in blacks’ medical facilities, implying that numerous women and children died while in the delivering process. The security sector was also affected by racism and the Jim Crow laws because there were very few blacks who were recruited in the military or security department. The security in the regions where the blacks were the majority was destitute because they were not offered with enough security personnel. The rate of crimes among the blacks increased due to lack of security, and consequently there were no developments in the regions where the blacks ruled. Additionally, poverty among the blacks led to increased crimes among the blacks, and this led to the race being hated and be linked to crime and injustice. Reflecting on judicial sector, the rate at which the blacks were arrested and sentenced was high as compared to the whites. According to studies, it was not that the blacks committed worse crimes than the whites, but because most of the security personnel were whites. They tended to favor the whites regardless of the nature of the crimes they committed but arrested and prosecuted the blacks regardless of the minority of the crimes in which they were found . Most of the prisons in Southern states of America were overpopulated, with the blacks having the largest number of prisoners3. The economic sector was not any different from other sectors. Most of the plantations and regions that were fertile were owned by the whites, and this made the agricultural sector worse for the blacks. The level of poverty increased among the blacks because they did not have regions to farm or keep livestock. The fact that they did not have reliable sources of income and food, most of the youths found their fate and destiny in crimes, and the result was either death or prison. Women and children suffered greatly due to Jim Crow laws and segregation that was evident during those periods. They did not have food to eat, they could not secure places to look for employment, and their men were not offered jobs that could support their families with food, shelter, medical services and education among other needs. In the main, the Jim Crow laws and segregation had no positive impacts to the lives of the blacks, and to some extent it negatively affected the whites. There were no social interactions between the whites and blacks, because even the restaurants where blacks and whites rested and took food were segregated. Developments were hindered by the segregation, the quality of education was lowered, and the health facilities were not effective due to racism. However, elimination of the Jim Crow laws shaped America from all perspective, and the leadership approaches were changed followed the Act that allowed the blacks to vote. Such led to the election of African American United States president, Barrack Obama. Bibliography Bartley, Numan V. The Rise of Massive Resistance: Race and Politics in the South during the 1950s. (Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press, 1969). Bond, Horace Mann. "The Extent and Character of Separate Schools in the United States." Journal of Negro Education vol. 4 (July 1935), pp. 321–327. Newby, I.A. Jim Crows Defense: Anti-Negro Thought in America, 1900-1930. (Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press, 1965). Read More