who was jim crow

Jim Crow was originally a fictional character created by Thomas Dartmouth Rice in the 1820s. Rice, a white entertainer, performed in blackface and portrayed Jim Crow as a stereotypical, exaggerated depiction of African Americans in minstrel shows. The character popularized racist stereotypes and became widely known through Rice's song "Jump Jim Crow" and similar acts. Over time, the name "Jim Crow" became a derogatory racial epithet for black people in the United States. By the late 19th century, the term evolved beyond the character to signify a system of racial segregation and discrimination primarily in the Southern United States. Jim Crow laws were state and local laws enforcing racial segregation in public facilities, schools, transportation, and other areas from the post-Reconstruction era (around 1877) until the mid-1960s. These laws legally maintained African Americans as second-class citizens and were accompanied by widespread racial violence and disenfranchisement. Thus, "Jim Crow" refers both to the racist theatrical character and the oppressive racial caste system and laws named after that character, symbolizing systemic racial discrimination and segregation in America for nearly a century.