The Reconstruction / Jim Crow Era

Untold numbers of black men, women, and children fearlessly resisted white supremacy in the South during the Jim Crow era, often risking their own very lives. It is impossible to know how many of the African Americans lynched by white mobs were men and women who had challenged Jim Crow by some evident act of defiance, such as walking proudly down the street or talking back to whites rather than stepping aside. Most of the …

…resistance of black Americans to Jim Crow operated largely outside the political America. Instead, African Americans turned to publicity, legal challenges, bearing witness, self-help and support groups, music, literature, and religion as the cornerstones of their battle against Jim Crow. In this sense, “the resistance of African Americans to Jim Crow became an American saga: an incredible journey in which oppressed people empowered themselves and enriched the nation by their conduct (Ronald L. F. Davis).”