WHAT WERE JIM CROW LAWS?

Jim Crow" was an antebellum character in a minstrel show. A white man (Tom Daddy" Rice) - made up as a black man - incorporated a character called "Jim Crow" into his show in 1832. Jim Crow sang a song to this music: "Weel about and turn about And do jis so, Eb'ry time I weel about And jump Jim Crow." Soon the term "Jim Crow" became a euphemism for "Negro." Soon the term Jim Crow Laws" became a euphemism for legal segregation.

CIVIL WAR 1861-1865

Post Civil War: Slaves are free.now what?
Most slaves were illiterate no education plan in place

No plan to transition African Americans from slavery to freedom

Post Civil War

13th Amendment ended slavery 1865 14th Amendment granted citizenship to African Americans 1868 Equal Protection Clause led to separate but equal regulations gave power to the states to decide issues of equality.

The Civil Rights Act of March 1, 1875

Be it enacted, That all persons within the jurisdiction of the United States shall be entitled to the full and equal enjoyment of the accommodations, advantages, facilities, and privileges of inns, public conveyances on land or water, theaters, and other places of public amusement; subject only to the conditions and limitations established by law, and applicable alike to citizens of every race and color, regardless of any previous condition of servitude.

The Civil Rights Act of March 1, 1875

In 1883 it was overturned by a Supreme Court decision which found it to violate states' rights.

The Civil Rights Act of March 1, 1875 Why was it overturned?

Gave individuals too much power; undermined state power already granted by Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment
Interfered with the private rights of citizens to use, manage, and protect their businesses and property States already had the ability to enforce the law of separate but equal

The Supreme Court overturned the Civil Rights Act in 1883, ruling that "the 14th Amendment did not give Congress authority to prevent discrimination by private individuals." The decision effectively "[opened] the door to legalized segregation. Represents the last Congressional effort to protect the civil rights of African-Americans until 1957. By 1914, every southern state had created its own version of Jim Crow laws.

EXAMPLES OF SOUTHERN STATES JIM CROW LAWS The schools for white children and the schools for negro children shall be conducted separately. (Florida) It shall be unlawful for a white person to marry anyone except a white person. (Georgia) The white and colored militia shall be separately enrolled, and shall never be compelled to serve in the same organization. (North Carolina)
Many of the first laws focused on separate railroad cars. Blacks were not allowed to sit in "white" railroad cars. Even in Philadelphia, William Penn's northern "city of brotherly love," such laws were passed. But that isn't the worst of it. Passing laws is one thing; upholding them is something else. What is most troubling is the highest court in the country - the United States Supreme Court - upheld those discriminatory laws.

Jim Crow Laws long upheld by federal courts, had effectively created two separate societies. AfricanAmericans who endured humiliating treatment still remember what it was like. The two societies were separate, but they were hardly equal.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 Passed by President Lyndon B. Johnson after the assignation of President John F. Kennedy finally gave equal rights to all African Americans.

NOTABLE AFRICAN AMERICAN CIVIL RIGHTS CATALYSTS:

Harriet Tubman, Malcolm X, Marcus Garvey, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, Alex Haley, Jack Johnson, Medgar Evers, The Little Rock 9, Stockley Carmichael (Kwame Torre), Emmit Till, James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, Huey P. Newton, Eldridge Clever, H. Rap Brown, Angela Davis, Rubin Carter, Kunta Kente, The Citizen of Rosewood Florida, The Citizens of Tulsa Kansas 1921, Muhammad Ali, Sojourner Truth, Dr. Charles Drew, Shaka Zulu, Olaudah Equiano, W.E.B. Du Bois, Nat Turner, The Buffalo Soldiers, Frederick Douglas, Fannie Lou Hamer, Mary McLeod Bethune, Shirley Chisholm, Benjamin Banneker, George Washington Carver, Lloyd Hall, Fred Jones, Jan Matzeliger, Elijah McCoy, Madame C.J. Walker, Granville Woods, Daniel Hale Williams, Jawanza Kunjufu, Cheikh Anta Diop, Phillis Wheatly, Eli Whitney, Dred Scott, Hiram Revels, Booker T. Washington, The Scottsboro Boys, Jackie Robinson, Thurgood Marshall, The Greensboro Four

SCOTTSBORO BOYS 1931

EMMIT TILL - 1955 LITTLE ROCK NINE - 1957

T.C. WILLIAMS HIGH SCHOOL The Titans - 1971

JENA 6, Louisiana - 2006

SCOTTSBORO BOYS

Emitt Till, murdered at age 14

LITTLE ROCK NINE

JENA 6, 2006

T. C. Williams High School (which had opened in 1965) became the only senior high school in Alexandria, VA in 1971. While integrating all students into one high school was the goal, the process created a problem. Black and white members of competing football teams were now part of the same school. If there was only one high school, there would be only one football team. Who would be on the team? And, more importantly, who would be its coach?

Herman Boone, a black assistant coach who came to T. C. Williams High in 1969, had less experience than his job competitor. Bill Yoast, the winning white head coach of the winning Hammond High football team had a great record in Alexandria. He had the support of white football parents. He had what it took to stay on top. He had everything going for him - but he didn't get the job. Herman Boone did - and that led to even more unrest in the city of Alexandria. After all, the history of high school football with Coach Yoast was already known, and he was the "obvious" choice.

Gerry Bertier, one of the Titans' stars, had his life turned upside down the night of the 1971 football banquet. He'd just won the "Defensive Award in Football," but his football-playing days would end that night. A decade after the Titans' football triumph, Gerry Bertier died (on March 20, 1981). Both of his coaches - Herman Boone and Bill Yoast - attended his funeral. His life is still celebrated by friends, family and a new foundation for spinal-cord research: The Gerry Bertier #42 Foundation.

It seems fitting, then, to Remember the Titans as they and their coaches confronted not only the internal pressures of integration, but also the external pressures of political unrest. To have become champions despite formidable odds against them is a tribute to the character of T. C. Williams High, its football team, and their coaches. It is also a testament to the power of the human spirit in overcoming the most extraordinary obstacles imaginable.