This Day (An America 250 History Show) Separate But Equal: The Rise of Jim Crow (Part 2)
May 7, 2026
A look at how Plessy v. Ferguson paved the way for Jim Crow laws, poll taxes, literacy tests and grandfather clauses. They trace the spread of disenfranchisement, bizarre everyday segregation laws and the rise of vigilante groups. The conversation also covers federal resegregation, cultural erasure and the eventual legal challenge to separate-but-equal.
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Segregation Quickly Became Voter Suppression
- After Plessy, Southern states expanded segregation into political disenfranchisement using ostensibly race-neutral tools.
- Laws like literacy tests, poll taxes, and grandfather clauses intentionally blocked Black voting despite 15th Amendment protections.
Supreme Court Left 'Equal' Undefined
- Plessy v. Ferguson validated segregation legally by endorsing 'separate' while leaving 'equal' undefined and unenforced.
- The Court trusted states to provide equality but set no enforcement mechanism, letting states underfund Black institutions.
Poll Taxes Made Voting Economically Impossible
- Poll taxes required payment to vote and could accumulate back payments, making voting effectively impossible for many Black sharecroppers.
- Kellie Carter Jackson describes sheriffs collecting fees and decades of unpaid taxes turning into hundreds of dollars owed.