CCR Resource Portal - Black Codes in the U.S.

Black Codes

Following the end of the Civil War and the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery, many Southern states—formerly part of the Confederacy—faced significant economic disruption due to their prior dependence on enslaved Black labor. In response, white-dominated legislatures in these states quickly reasserted political control and enacted a series of laws known as “Black Codes” in 1865 and 1866.¹ These laws, rooted in earlier slave codes, sought to maintain white supremacy through social and economic control of newly freed Black individuals. Although the specifics of the Black Codes varied by state, their overarching purpose was to secure a cheap and stable labor force and to codify the assumed inferiority of African Americans.

Between 1885 and 1908, all eleven former Confederate states revised their state constitutions to further entrench racial inequality. These new constitutions introduced voter suppression measures such as poll taxes, literacy tests, and felon disenfranchisement.² Additionally, they codified segregationist laws, including prohibitions on interracial marriage and integrated public education.

One of the most insidious legacies of the Black Codes was the establishment of the Convict Leasing System. Under this system, Black individuals could be arrested and convicted for vague and racially discriminatory offenses such as loitering, violating curfews, or failing to provide proof of employment.³ Once convicted, they were leased to private enterprises, effectively re-enslaving them under the guise of criminal justice. This system enabled the continuation of forced Black labor well into the twentieth century, with thousands subjected to what scholars have described as “slavery by another name.”

Figure 1 Cover of an early edition of "Jump Jim Crow" sheet music (c. 1832)

Jim Crow Laws

In the Southern United States, where Black Codes were widely implemented following the Civil War, these racially repressive statutes came to be colloquially known by another name. The term “Jim Crow” originated from a popular 19th-century minstrel performance in which a white actor, Thomas Dartmouth Rice, portrayed a caricatured and dehumanizing depiction of Black life through the character “Jump Jim Crow.” This performance became widely recognized across the South, and the name “Jim Crow” evolved into a pejorative term for African Americans. Over time, the phrase became synonymous with the system of racial segregation codified into law throughout the Southern states. To this day, these discriminatory statutes are commonly referred to as “Jim Crow laws.”⁴

Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 (1896)

The legal foundation for the Jim Crow era was solidified with the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferguson. The case originated in 1892 when Homer Plessy, a man of mixed Black and white ancestry, deliberately violated Louisiana’s Separate Car Act by sitting in a whites-only railroad car. Plessy contended that the law violated his constitutional rights under the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments. However, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation, declaring that laws mandating separation of the races did not imply inequality and were thus permissible under the Constitution. The ruling established the “separate but equal” doctrine, which became a central legal justification for the Jim Crow system.⁵

Jim Crow Laws in Practice

The term Jim Crow came to represent the legal and social framework of racial subordination and segregation imposed upon Black Americans in the Southern United States. This system, rooted in both formal legislation and entrenched customs, was perpetuated through social norms, institutional practices, and acts of racial violence. Under Jim Crow rule, virtually all aspects of daily life were governed by a rigid racial hierarchy. Segregation extended from the most fundamental elements of society—such as the racially divided public education system and the criminalization of interracial marriage—to the most routine and seemingly trivial interactions.⁶

For nearly six decades, the legal justification for these laws was upheld under the U.S. Constitution’s “separate but equal” doctrine, established in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896). It was not until the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education on May 17, 1954, that segregation was deemed unconstitutional, thus beginning the formal dismantling of Jim Crow laws.⁷

These laws varied in content across states, but all shared the purpose of reinforcing white supremacy by codifying racial segregation. Examples from various states illustrate the extensive reach of Jim Crow legislation:

Railroads (Maryland): Railroad companies were required to provide separate cars or coaches for white and Black passengers.
Toilet Facilities, Male (Alabama): Employers were mandated to provide racially segregated and reasonably accessible toilet facilities for white and Black male employees.
Burial (Georgia): It was prohibited to bury Black individuals in cemeteries designated for White persons.
Child Custody (South Carolina): It was unlawful for any White guardian to permanently place a White child under the custody or care of a Black individual.
Hospital Entrances (Mississippi): State-run hospitals were required to maintain separate entrances for White and Black patients and visitors.
Education (Texas): County Boards of Education were tasked with maintaining racially segregated schools—one for white children and one for Black children.
Textbooks (North Carolina): Textbooks used in white schools were not to be transferred to Black schools, ensuring the continued racial segregation of educational materials.
Telephone Booths (Oklahoma): Telephone companies were required to provide separate booths for White and Black customers where such segregation was demanded.

These statutes exemplify the systematic and pervasive nature of racial segregation during the Jim Crow era, institutionalizing inequality in every facet of public and private life.

References

1 Britannica. (n.d.). Black code. Britannica.com. https://www.britannica.com/topic/black-code

2 Equal Justice Initiative. (2017). Lynching in America: Confronting the Legacy of Racial Terror. (Third Edition). Equal Justice Initiative

https://lynchinginamerica.eji.org/report/

3 Equal Justice Initiative. (2011, Jan 13). Convict Leasing. https://eji.org/news/history-racial-injustice-convict-leasing

4 Woodward, C. and McFeely, W. (2001), The Strange Career of Jim Crow.

5 History.com Editors. (2009). Plessy v. Ferguson. history.com. https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/plessy-v-ferguson

6 Equal Justice Initiative. (2017). Lynching in America: Confronting the Legacy of Racial Terror. (Third Edition). Equal Justice Initiative

https://lynchinginamerica.eji.org/report/

7 Ferris.edu. (2001). Examples of Jim Crow Laws - Oct. 1960 - Civil Rights.

https://www.ferris.edu/HTMLS/news/jimcrow/links/misclink/examples.htm