There came a period of reconstruction after the slaves were freed, after the civil war in America. Many former slaves stayed where they were, other more ambitious blacks moved to the big northern cities, seeking education and jobs.
But then came the Jim Crow Laws, that were to separate blacks from whites. The laws were named after the song Jump Jim Crow, where the comedian Thomas Rice made fun of blacks by dressing as one.
The segregation took place all over country, on public places such as: Schools, transportation, restrooms and so on.
The whites said that the places were equal, despite the separation. But the whites, nevertheless, still had all the ruling power.
The blacks had no right to vote therefore they couldn't change their situation.
The first Jim Crow Law, established 1881, demanded whites and blacks separated on trains. In the south, when the blacks got the voting right they were prevented from taking advantage of them.
In South Carolina, where there was a black majority, the senator Ben Tillman said that they had done everything to prevent the blacks from using their voting rights, they had even killed them, and they were not ashamed of it.
Many blacks fought in the second world war, and even when they went home victorious, they were still denied civil rights.
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