by Attica Scott
"The 'redeemers'...framed new laws aimed just as surely at disenfranchising blacks as the Reconstruction legislation had aimed at protecting them. Such pieces of legislation were called 'Jim Crow' laws, taking their name from the antebellum minstrel show that had given the Confederacy its national anthem, 'Dixie.'"
—Alan Axelrod/Charles Phillips, 1992
During the month of October, PBS has devoted each Tuesday evening at 10 p.m. to an exploration of "The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow." Some folks in our community say the series would have been better titled "The Rise and Fall and Rebirth of Jim Crow."
Contrary to what many of us may think, Jim Crow was not a person, but a thing. It affected the lives of millions of people. As noted above, the term "Jim Crow" was taken from a popular 19th-century minstrel song that stereotyped blacks. "Jim Crow" came to personify the system of government-sanctioned racial oppression and segregation in the United States. I repeat, in the United States—not sans east Tennessee. Jim Crow and its laws and practices were able to continue to exist in the South because it was sanctioned by the national government—How many presidents directly challenged white supremacy of the 1800s or any other time?
The video series has been another one of those painful shows to watch. The benefit for me is continuing my education in a time in history that shaped our country as it exists today. It is an awesome reminder of the strength that exists within people who are oppressed.
I know that life was harsh for people of color living under Jim Crow. And I know that life was difficult for their white allies who risked their lives because they truly believed that all people are created equal.
How do I know? Because I've asked. Some of the stories that people share will make you cry. Some of the stories will make you shake your head. And others will leave you speechless.
Many of the stories that are shared about this period in our history focus on violence. Those stories can be shocking. One story my family shares is about a great-great uncle who was lynched; his brothers had to remove his hanging body from the poplar tree. Can you imagine your legs being ripped apart by dogs trained to tear you apart? What am I thinking! No one can imagine that. But that's a reality for some people right now.
Even though the Supreme Court long ago ruled Jim Crow laws were illegal, the effects still linger. People of color have been denied the right to vote in Florida. The presidential elections of 2000 are one example; the recent Florida primary elections being yet another. Crosses are stilled burned on families' front yards. (Just ask the mayor of Newport, who in January of this year was reminded that people of color in our highest city and county offices continue to face racism, sometimes in its most vicious forms.) And people are still being lynched. Tying someone to the back of your pickup truck and dragging him across a dirt road until he is decapitated is a lynching.
Maybe now you will begin to understand why some folks want to say that we are living in the time of the rebirth of Jim Crow. Our freedoms, our citizenship, and our right to vote are all under question right now.
If you'd like to learn more about Jim Crow in East Tennessee, then join a community discussion of the topic at the East Tennessee Historical Society on Sunday, Oct. 27 at 2 p.m. And visit www.pbs.org to learn more about the Jim Crow series.
As the tagline to the PBS series says: "Emancipation ended slavery, but not its legacy."
October 24, 2002 * Vol. 12, No. 43
© 2002 Metro Pulse
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