Jim Crow Cartoon

This picture is absolutely perfect for this class, it depicts exactly the kinds of things we’ve learned about and that is exactly why I have chose it to discuss and present. The picture practically defines racism. The Jim Crow Laws were state and local laws enacted in the Southern and border states of the United States and enforced between 1876 and 1965. They mandated "separate but equal" status for black Americans. In reality, this led to treatment and accommodations that were almost always inferior to those provided to the privileged White Americans. The Jim Crow period refers to the time during which this practice occurred.

That is why this picture is soo cool; not only is this picture from a newspaper in the mid 1900s when the Laws were still around and strong, this picture is a new version of racism. Instead of creating drawings of scary beastly black men or heavy-set black women this takes the racism to the level of the Crow. Which to me insinuates the fact that the whole Era was a joke to the White people. “Separate but equal” after this picture says that black people are equivalent to a crow. But wait! Not just any crow a crow from Australia that doesn’t even know how to speek correct English. According to Richard Wright said, “ It was assumed that after a Negro had imbided what scanty schooling the state furnished he had no further need for books.” “DE” “OB” I guess White people think that since the African Americans were very uneducated this was how they would pronounce the words “THE” and “OF”. This picture can’t get any more racist. Right? Wrong. Take a close look at the boys mouth, it’s a beak! Even his eyes are excatly the same as the crows. Much like the Jim Crow Laws we’ve learned about in Richard Wright this picture has no respect to the African American race. Richard Wright said, “ It was assumed that after a Negro had imbided what scanty schooling the state furnished he had no further need for books.”

I’m surprised we didn’t use this picture in class. I typed in pictures from the Jim Crow Era and this out of all the others that came up caught my eye immediately. I like this picture because of the different levels of racism all wrapped up in one picture. We should’ve used it in class. I know that the Jim Crow Era was suppose to create separate but equal amongst Americans, but we all know that this wasn’t the case and this picture is a proven fact.

www.positiveliberty.com/jimcrow.jpg