Segregation and Jim Crow Laws

In addition to the poverty and economic hardships faced by people living during The Great Depression, the 1930s were also a time of great division in the country due to racism. Jim Crow Laws were state and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the South. Supporters of these laws claimed segregation provided “separate but equal” public spaces and therefore were fair. But were they? Enacted after the Civil War, these laws continued in force until 1965. To learn more about segregation, study the following photograph of a boy drinking at a water fountain during the time of Jim Crow and then answer the questions in the space below.