Separate but equal
Beginning in 1890, Southern Democrats began to pass state laws that took away the rights African Americans had gained. These racist laws became known as Jim Crow laws. Plessy caused Jim Crow laws to go unchallenged by the federal government for 58 years. They included laws that made it impossible for blacks to vote. Since they could not vote, blacks also could not be on juries. Other laws required racial segregation so blacks could not go to the same schools, restaurants or hospitals as whites. They could not use the same bathrooms or drink from the same drinking fountains. They could also not sit in front of whites on busses or trains. Many southern Christian ministers taught that whites were the chosen people and blacks were cursed by God. Lynchings were designed to instill fear in blacks and keep them in their place. Between 1882 and 1968, 3,440 black men and women were lynched. Others were burned at the stake, castrated, beaten or murdered. The Jim Crow era began to end after the Supreme Court’s unanimous Brown v. Board of Education decision overruled Plessy.