8.3 Segregation and Discrimination

Discrimination in the South• Techniques white leaders would use to keep

African Americans from voting:– “Literacy” tests that were made harder for black

voters than white ones– Poll taxes; both white and black sharecroppers

were too poor to be able to pay these– Grandfather clause meant white voters who

failed either of the above could still vote.

Discrimination in the South• The Plessy v. Ferguson Supreme Court decision

supported Jim Crow laws– Segregation was okay as long as everything was

“separate but equal”– But Plessy and Jim Crow laws did give the NAACP and

other black groups something specific to fight against later for equality (Brown v. Board of Ed)

Discrimination in the South• Black men had to take off their hats and move

off the sidewalk for white people, who would often call the man “boy”

• Attacks, beatings, and lynchings were common

Discrimination outside the South• Northern white workers didn’t want black

people to take their jobs– Black workers often earned less money, were fired

more often, and were denied union membership– Occasionally there would be riots against black

workers

Discrimination outside the South• In the West, racial tensions were still there,

but they weren’t as bad– Mexicans helped build the railroads and work

the agricultural fields• A system of debt peonage kept Mexican and black

workers stuck basically in slavery to pay off a debt.

– Chinese Exclusion Act from Ch. 7