The Effects of The Jim Crow Laws on The Lives of Americans from The North and The South

During the time Jim Crow laws were in place, the daily lives of everyone living in the deep South were affected, whether they recognized it or not. For some, Jim Crow was part of their culture and so they did not even acknowledge its power, they just saw it as a way of life. Although some people living in the North had no idea what was occurring in South, they were still affected by Jim Crow laws. The reactions of Americans and incorporation of Jim Crow differed depending on whether they were living in the North or South, and if they were black or white.

In the North, some whites were not very cognizant of Jim Crow laws, because they were not the law in the North, racism was just part of the culture. Some others spoke out against them or helped fight back against them. In the North, Jim Crow was not a part of the culture, in fact it was something that seemed completely wrong. This is not to say that there were not still racists or KKK members living in North, there were simply less of them as a part of the whole population. When Emmett Till was murdered, it opened the eyes of many whites living in the North. This was one catalyst of the Civil Rights Movement.

Despite Jim Crow not having as tight of a grip on the North as it did in the South, blacks still did not experience all of the rights that are guaranteed to all of now in today’s world. For example, they could be refused service at a business, and although segregation was not the law, it sometimes occurred. For example, in Muncie, there were some neighborhoods that only blacks lived in and some neighborhoods that only whites lived in, despite the fact that it was not enforced by the law. The blacks in the North knew about Jim Crow, but like the case of Emmett Till, they had no idea just how strict they were. Emmett’s mother warned Emmett that things were different in the South, but neither he nor she knew just how different they were. When Emmett told his cousins that he had whistled at a white woman in Bryant’s grocery store, he was scared of being shipped back to Chicago. He had no idea that what he did could mean death in the South. When Emmett was killed, his mother was the one who fought for justice, not the justice system of Mississippi. Had she been living in the South, she probably would not have reacted this way, but she most likely would have been too fearful to speak out about her son’s death and the trial for his murderers.

In the South, however, things were separate. Segregation was the law, and anyone who did not obey would be subject to not only law enforcement, but also would have to answer to other Southerners and the Ku Klux Klan. Blacks in the South integrated Jim Crow into their daily lives. They did this by doing what they were expected to do, which was serve whites and treat them as if they were superior, and not to say anything of it. These injustices they had to face included being forced to go to a certain school which quite often contained out of date books, ancient equipment, and many students in small classrooms. They also could not sit in the same dining room as whites at restaurants, they could not use the same restrooms, and black men could not even share the sidewalk with a white woman, they would be forced to step into the street while the woman passed. These things were new to Emmett Till when he first encountered the South. He was unlike the other black boys living in the South. He was outgoing, had a class clown type personality, and was afraid of no one. These things may have just gotten him killed.

Blacks in the South reacted to segregation through boycotts and mostly peaceful protest. This was possibly driven by the fear they surely felt, but also their resilience to not stoop to the level of their suppressors. This was a common trait amongst blacks living in the south. Even though they had experienced unimaginable, violent injustices, they were adamant to not violently act out. Some examples of these peaceful protests are sit-ins, bus boycotts, and the freedom summer.

The majority of whites living in the South during the Civil Rights Era saw themselves as higher class citizens than blacks. If a white tried to help a black or went against segregation in any way they could face punishments just as severe as blacks did. For this reason, it was rare for anyone, black or white, to speak out against the racial injustice occurring. Whites in the South were often in denial that civil rights would soon be a reality for blacks. Some believed it was a fad that would blow over. Whites in the South were incredibly ignorant in their thinking on what black citizens were. They truly believed that they were not as good as them, and that they should be treated as such. They also believed that they were entirely different from them, going as far as saying they could catch disease by being together.

The reactions of different types of people were quite different depending on their situation. The reactions of whites in the north and south, as well as blacks in the North and South, were all different. This was due to how society treated them and the cultural differences between the north and south. The Jim Crow Era in America was a time of great injustice, followed by a time of change. During the 1950s and 60s the overall culture of the deep south changed to affect the changing times. Today, the culture of racism is not a culture, but a counterculture.