Image Symbolizing Black Voters During Reconstruction
Image Symbolizing Federal Protection During Reconstruction
Image Symbolizing Post Reconstruction Racial Terror
The Ongoing Struggle for Voting Rights Today
Most people who have studied American history at any level are probably familiar that the term “Jim Crow” refers to the system of legal racial segregation that developed in the South during the post Civil War period. What is less widely known is the specific turning point that gave birth to this dehumanizing system. As the result of the Civil War, Congress passed and the states ratified three amendments to the Constitution (13th, 14th, and 15th). Taken together, these “Reconstruction Amendments” provided the foundation for the civil rights of formerly enslaved people. For a period of about twelve years following the war, this Reconstruction era gave rise to amazing progress as Black men voted in large numbers and served at all levels of government. During this time, federal troops remained in the South to help enforce the civil rights of Black people against the violent resistance of many white people who opposed these changes.
In the presidential election of 1876, the race was so close that it was decided in the House of Representatives. According to most historians, a compromise was reached that allowed the Republican Rutherford B. Hayes to become president with the condition that the last federal troops would be removed from the South which was controlled by Democrats. So on April 24, 1877 the last remaining federal troops were withdrawn from Lousiana, and Southern states ushered in a period they referred to as “Redemption” in which state laws were passed to roll back the rights granted to Black people during Reconstruction. Over the next fifty years, the system of Jim Crow legal segregation became increasingly pervasive and oppressive. A classic resource for studying this often neglected part of our history is the book The Strange Career of Jim Crow by C. Vann Woodward. The development of Jim Crow segregation helps us to understand why the modern Civil Rights Movement of the 1950’s-60’s was necessary. The historic campaigns that challenged the various aspects of legal segregation (transportation, public accommodations, voting rights, fair housing) sought to reclaim civil rights that were established generations before but were denied through state actions.
The first three images posted above symbolize the period of Reconstruction and its dismantling that gave rise to Jim Crow segregation. The fourth image is a vivid reminder that the legacy of Jim Crow is still with us, especially in the numerous efforts by some states to pass laws that suppress voting rights which disproportionately impact Black people and other people of color. Although the language attempting to justify these laws cannot use the old language of Jim Crow racial segregation, their impact perpetuates the kind of racial injustice that was birthed 145 years ago this week. As people of faith who believe that all people are created in the image of God, it is essential to discern and oppose the legacy of Jim Crow in whatever form it takes. The video posted below features the historian Henry Louis Gates summarizing the period of Reconstruction, the development of Jim Crow segregation, and our need to be vigilant in maintaining the rights guaranteed by the Constitution regardless of race, gender, or sexual orientation.