This is a list of examples of Jim Crow laws, which were state, territorial, and local laws in the United States enacted between 1865 and 1965. Jim Crow laws existed throughout the United States and originated from the Black Codes that were passed from 1865 to 1866 and from before the American Civil War. They mandated de jure segregation in all public facilities, with a supposedly "separate but equal" status for Americans of African descent. In reality, this led to treatment that was usually inferior to that provided for Americans of European descent, systematizing a number of economic, educational and social disadvantages.Brogan (1999):371
State-sponsored school segregation was repudiated by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1954 in Brown v. Board of Education. Anti-miscegenation laws were repudiated in 1967 by Loving v. Virginia. Generally, segregation and discrimination were outlawed by the Civil Rights Act of 1964.Brogan (1999):635
Alabama "It shall be unlawful to conduct a restaurant or other place for the serving of food in the city, at which white and colored people are served in the same room unless such white and colored persons are effectually separated by a solid partition extending from the floor(s) upward to a distance of seven feet or higher, unless a separate entrance from the street is provided for each compartment." This law was put in place in 1934. The Alabama constitution of 1901 separated school houses for African Americans and White people.
Arizona 1864: Miscegenation [Statute]. Marriages between whites with "Black People, Indians" were declared illegal and void. The word "Descendants" does not appear in the statute.
1901: Miscegenation [Statute] Revision of the 1864 statute which added the word "descendants" to the list of minority groups. The revised statutes also stated that marriages would be valid, if legal, where they were contracted; but noted that Arizona residents could not evade the law by going to another state to perform the ceremony.
1909: Education [Statute] School district trustees were given the authority to segregate black students from white children, only where there were more than eight Negro pupils in the school district. The legislature passed the law over a veto by the governor.
1911–1962: Segregation, miscegenation, voting [Statute] Passed six segregation laws: four against miscegenation and two school segregation statutes, and a voting rights statute that required electors to pass a literacy test. The state's miscegenation laws prohibited blacks as well as Indians and Asians from marrying whites, and were not repealed until 1962.
1927: Education [Statute] In areas with 25 or more black high school students, an election would be called to determine if these pupils should be segregated in separate but equal facilities.
1928: Miscegenation [State Code] Forbid marriages between persons of the Caucasian, Asian and Malay races.
1942: Miscegenation [Judicial Decision] Supreme Court of Arizona interprets anti-miscegenation statute in a manner which prohibits persons of mixed racial heritage from marrying anyone. Court acknowledges that its interpretation is "absurd" and recommends that Legislature pass amendment thereto.State v. Pass, 59 Ariz. 16, 121 P.2d 882 (1942)
1956: Miscegenation [Statute] Marriage of person of "Caucasian blood with Negro, Mongolian, Malay, or Hindu" void. Native Americans were originally included in an earlier statute, but were deleted by a 1942 amendment.
California In this state, concern about Asian immigration produced more legislation against Chinese immigrants than against African Americans.
In 1850 California statute provided that "no black, mulatto person, or Indian, shall be allowed to give evidence in favor of, or against a white man." In 1854, the Supreme Court of California held that the statute precluded persons of Chinese descent from testifying for or against a white man. "It can hardly be supposed that any Legislature would . . exclud[e] domestic negroes and Indians, . . . and turn loose upon the community the more degraded tribes of the same species, who have nothing in common with us."
California's constitution stated that "no native of China" shall ever exercise the privileges of an elector in the state." Similar provisions appeared in the constitutions of Oregon and Idaho...
1866–1947: Segregation, voting [Statute] Enacted 17 Jim Crow laws between 1866 and 1947 in the areas of miscegenation (6) and education (2), employment (1) and a residential ordinance passed by the city of San Francisco that required all Chinese inhabitants to live in one area of the city. Similarly, a miscegenation law passed in 1901 broadened an 1850 law, adding that it was unlawful for white persons to marry "Mongolians."
1860–1880; 1885: Education [Statute] Children of "Negroes, Mongolians, and Indians" must attend separate schools. Direct URL Later amended in 1864 to enable a separate school to be established upon the written request of the parents of ten such children. "A less number may be provided for in separate schools in any other manner." Direct URL Enrollment in public schools restricted to white children only in 1866, and the first mention of separate but equal was made. Direct URL In 1870, the requirement to educate Chinese children was dropped entirely Direct URL and separate schools were repealed in 1880, Direct URL but reestablished for Chinese students in 1885.direct URL
1872: Alcohol sales [Statute] Prohibited the sale of liquor to Indians. The act remained legal until its repeal in 1920, when Prohibition made it redundant.
1879: Voter rights [Constitution] "No native of China" would ever have the right to vote in the state of California. Repealed in 1926.
1879: Employment [Constitution] Prohibited public bodies from employing Chinese and called upon the legislature to protect "the state…from the burdens and evils arising from" their presence. A statewide anti-Chinese referendum was passed by 99.4 percent of voters in 1879.
1880: Miscegenation [Statute] Made it illegal for white persons to marry a "Negro, mulatto, or Mongolian."
1890: Residential [City Ordinance] The city of San Francisco ordered all Chinese inhabitants to move into a certain area of the city within six months or face imprisonment. The Bingham Ordinance was later found to be unconstitutional by a federal court.
1891: Residential [Statute] Required all Chinese to carry with them at all times a "certificate of residence." Without it, a Chinese immigrant could be arrested and jailed.
1894: Voter rights [Constitution] Any person who could not read the Constitution in English or write his name would be disfranchised. An advisory referendum indicated that nearly 80 percent of voters supported an educational requirement.
1901: Miscegenation [Statute] The 1850 law prohibiting marriage between white persons and Negroes or mulattoes was amended, adding "Mongolian."
1909: Miscegenation [Statute] Persons of Japanese descent were added to the list of undesirable marriage partners of white Californians as noted in the earlier 1880 statute.
1913: Property [Statute] Known as the "Alien Land Laws," Asian immigrants were prohibited from owning or leasing property. The California Supreme Court struck down the Alien Land Laws in 1952.
1931: Miscegenation [State Code] Prohibited marriages between persons of the Caucasian and Asian races.
1933: Miscegenation [Statute] Broadened earlier miscegenation statute to also prohibit marriages between whites and Malays.
1945: Miscegenation [Statute] Prohibited marriage between whites and "Negroes, mulattos, Mongolians and Malays."
1947: Miscegenation [Statute] Subjected U.S. servicemen and Japanese women who wanted to marry to rigorous background checks. Barred the marriage of Japanese women to white servicemen if they were employed in undesirable occupations.
Colorado 1864: Miscegenation [Statute] Marriage between Negroes and mulattoes, and white persons "absolutely void." Penalty: Fine between $50 and $550, or imprisonment between three months and two years, or both.
1864–1908: [Statute] Passed three Jim Crow laws between 1864 and 1908, all concerning miscegenation. School segregation was barred in 1876, followed by ending segregation of public facilities in 1885. Four laws protecting civil liberties were passed between 1930 and 1957 when the anti-miscegenation statute was repealed.
1908: Miscegenation [Statute] Marriage between Negroes and mulattoes, and whites prohibited. Penalties: Punishable by imprisonment from three months to two years, or a fine of between $50 and $500. Performing a marriage ceremony punishable by a fine of $50 to $500, or three months to two years' imprisonment, or both.
1930: Miscegenation [Statute] Miscegenation declared a misdemeanor.
Connecticut 1879: Military [Statute] Authorized state to organize four independent companies of infantry of "colored men". Companies were to receive same pay as other companies, including one company parade in the Spring and one in September.
1935: Education [Statute] Upheld school segregation as originally authorized by statute of 1869.
Florida
"All courtships between a white person and a Negro person, or between a white person and a person of Negro descent to the fourth generation inclusive, are hereby forever prohibited"Fla. Const. in 1885, art. XVI, s. 24. "Any Black man and white woman, or any white man and/or Negro woman, who are not married to each other, who shall habitually live in and occupy in the nighttime the same room shall each be punished by imprisonment not exceeding twelve (12) months, or by fine not exceeding five hundred ($500.00) dollars." "The schools for white children and the schools for Negro children shall be conducted separately." Integrated education was prohibited in Florida's Constitution of 1885. The following is a list of legislation and penalties dealing with racial relations in Florida, some of which were in effect until passage of Florida's current Constitution in 1967: 1865: Railroad statute – "Negroes or mulattoes who intruded into any railroad car reserved for white persons would be found guilty of a misdemeanor." Whites faced the same penalty for entering a car reserved for persons of color. 1873: Barred public accommodation segregation statute – prohibited discrimination on account of race in the full and equal enjoyment of public accommodations such as inns, public transportation, theaters, schools, cemeteries and places of public amusement. This did not include private schools or cemeteries established exclusively for white or colored persons. (See Reconstruction Era.) 1885: Education (constitution) – "White and colored children shall not be taught in the same school." 1887: Railroads statute – "All respectable Negro persons" to be sold first-class tickets at the same rates as white passengers and shall be provided a separate car "equally as good and provided with the same facilities for comfort as for white persons." Conductors and railroad companies violating the provisions of the law faced a fine up to $500. 1887: Education (constitution) – white and colored children were prohibited from being taught in the same schools. 1895: Education [Statute] – a Penal offense for any persons to conduct any school, any grade, either public or private where whites and blacks are instructed or boarded in the same building or taught in the same class by the same teachers. Penalty: Between $150 and $500 fine, or imprisonment in the county jail between three and six months. 1905: Streetcars [Statute] – Separation of races required on all streetcars. 1907: Railroads [Statute] – Separate waiting rooms for each race to be provided at railroad depots along with separate ticket windows. Also called for a separation of the races on streetcars. 1909: Railroads [Statute] – Separate accommodations required by race.