Hypocritical Freedom

“the measure of a man’s estimate of your strength is the kind of weapons he feels that he must use in order to hold you fast in a prescribed place” – Howard Thurman (Jim Crow, 1).

The Jim Crow south was like mixing oil and water. While African Americans and whites both inhabited the same place it was impossible for them to integrate and form one entity. In the years following the abolition of slavery the black population of America faced the impossible task of establishing their race within society, beyond the limits that were previously fixed upon them. One can never forget the overbearing blockades that white southerners enforced in order to inhibit African Americans’ goal of liberty. Whites instituted laws and societal barriers that inevitably “ [froze] the place of the Negro in society and guarantee[d] his basic immobility” (Jim Crow, 1). It was not until the end of abolition that blacks realized they reserved the right to say “no”. Never had a word given so much power to a particular race. “No” actually placed the power in hands of African Americans.

White southerners found ways to go around the new laws and amendments for equality, most notably through the implementation of the notion of separate but equal, which was a result of the Supreme Court case of Plessy vs. Ferguson. This allowed the whites to preserve their own racial space and continue racism that was still prevalent in the South. Plessy vs. Ferguson racially divided the South and denied blacks access to the basic priveladges given to the whites. It was evident that Southern infrastructure was anything but equal. The white buses, schools, hospitals, neighborhoods, grocery stores, and clothing stores were clearly superior to their black counterparts. Many companies knew that if they kept one facility allowing both races to enter, the whites would boycott their company and begin shopping with one of their all white competitors. Additionally they knew southern whites would not approve of the racially separate items being equal in construction or condition. Although slavery had been destroyed the ideals and mindsets that went along with the institution were still engrained in southern society.

Southern society made obvious the traditional racist philosophies they wished to preserve and never let anyone from the emancipated race forget that. Black children of the Jim Crow south had to overcome the unpredictability of their childhood. Remembering Jim Crow illustrates

“… alleged white ‘friends’ suddenly becoming mortal enemies… most poignant of these realities emerged when African American children came to understand that blacks and whites were different in the eyes of their society…black children confronted racial differences in the taunts of white children, in the degrading treatment of black adults, and in their own observations of who was better off than whom. Under [these] circumstances, ‘you just automatically grow up inferior…” ( 3).

While whites had no way of estimating the capabilities the black race after the abolition they never attempted to risk their grander position within society in order to create true equality. White southerners saw the abolition as a major threat to their traditional society, therefore preserving the ideal southern way of life was essential to all southern white citizens. Protection of southern principles was Jim Crow’s key mission. Implementing the set of social standards established in the Jim Crow South allowed the whites to maintain their superiority over all other citizens. Despite the fact that the abolition took place decades before, blacks were stuck within a paradox. While they were technically free they were never fully liberated from the constraints of slavery. They were constantly shown their ‘rightful place’ within society, racial etiquette was the tedious and demoralizing conduct that every African American should follow in their everyday encounters with the white society. It was the fundamentals of this social protocol that blatantly indicated the true position of African Americans within the social order.