Old Photos: 10 old photos reveal the tragedy of America. Why is racism getting worse?

From 1861 to 1865, the United States experienced a four-year Civil War. This was the largest civil war in American history. The cause of the war was that the southern states of the United States were based on plantation economies and needed a large number of black slaves as labor force to support them. The rapid development of the capitalist economy in the north also requires a large amount of free labor to engage in production. The two were in sharp opposition on the issue of whether to promote slavery, resulting in irreconcilable contradictions. This contradiction became particularly intense during the expansion of the United States to the west and the creation of new states, and local armed conflicts even broke out. Eventually, seven southern states declared independence from the Union. This touched the bottom line of the then US President Lincoln. He immediately declared that the actions of the seven southern states were rebellions. He would resolutely safeguard the unity of the country, and the war broke out.

Four years later, the war ended with the victory of the Northern Union Army under the leadership of Lincoln. The seven southern states and other states that later declared independence returned to the embrace of the United States. On December 18, 1865, the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution officially came into effect, and slavery was officially abolished in law. In 1868, the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States, including former slaves. In 1870, the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution gave blacks the right to vote. There is no doubt that the introduction of these bills is the result of fierce political struggles. They attempt to legally protect the equality black people seek. But in fact, the discrimination and violence against people of color by white Americans has not stopped, but has intensified. During this period, some groups pursuing "white supremacy" were even spawned, such as the Ku Klux Klan, the Knights of the White Camellia, etc.

At the same time, white legislators in the southern states of the United States also took up the weapon of law to compete with the United States federal government. They passed a series of laws one after another to implement segregation for people of color. These laws are collectively known as "Jim Crow laws." Its core content is that public facilities must be used according to different races. This involves every aspect of daily life, from taking buses to using drinking fountains, to the schools where children attend, all of which are subject to "apartheid". They claim that these laws implement the "separate but equal" principle and do not violate the "equal protection rights" stipulated in the U.S. Constitution. This allowed these laws to persist for a long time and made racists more emboldened.

But in fact, the public facilities used by black Americans are often in poor condition. This puts them in a disadvantaged position for a long time in terms of economy, education and social life. It was not until the United States passed the Civil Rights Act in 1964, and the Voting Rights Act in 1965, that legally prohibited any form of racial segregation and discrimination, and the "Jim Crow" laws that lasted for nearly a century were Officially withdrew from the stage of history. Below, let us use a set of old photos to understand how black people in the United States were treated during the period when "Jim Crow" laws were prevalent.

Picture 1 On August 27, 1956, three white students from Clinton High School in Tennessee, USA, stood in front of the camera holding signs that discriminated against black students. The school was the first state-supported desegregation and racial integration school in the United States. (Slogan to the effect, left: We students at Clinton High School don’t want niggas to enter. Center: We don’t want to go to a school with niggas. Right: Strike to oppose the racial integration of Clinton High School)

Picture 2 1955 , in a waiting room in Oklahoma, a black family was looking up at the sign above their heads, which read: Waiting Room for Blacks.

Figure 3 In 1948, retired American professor George McLaurin became the first black student admitted to the University of Oklahoma. But in the school's classrooms, cafeterias and bathrooms, he was completely segregated from white students.

The picture shows that during class, he could only sit alone in a corner of the classroom.

Figure 4: Black and white passengers on an Atlanta Transit Company streetcar on April 23, 1956, after racial segregation on public transportation was outlawed. The black man still sat in the back of the car.

Figure 5 This is a drinking pool in a public place. Black people should also use it separately from white people. The English words on the cabinet read "For Colored People Only".

Figure 6 In 1961, when two black men suddenly walked into a white restaurant in downtown Memphis and tried to eat, a white female customer hurriedly stepped forward to stop them and immediately negotiated with the restaurant staff. . The two black men hugged their arms, with fearless expressions on their faces.

Picture 7 One day in 1959, at a glance, the Memphis Zoo in the United States was full of black people. A sign in front of the door read: "No whites allowed today." Because this day is Thursday, black people can only visit the zoo on Thursday during the week, and the other six days are all for white people to visit.

Picture 8: On June 18, 1964, in a motel, several black activists jumped into a white-only swimming pool to protest. The white hotel manager immediately brought a bucket of acid and poured it over the black woman in the pool. A black woman is screaming.

Figure 9 In 1910, in North Carolina, the United States, three truck compartments full of black people were parked in a forest. They were all arrested under Jim Crow laws. The white men were standing guard with guns.

Picture 10 On September 16, 1958, in Little Rock, Arkansas, two white boys tried to force a black boy and his sister Mary to go to school from the sidewalk (they could not walk on the main road), but they were beaten by the black boy. The boy was resisting and he was pointing his finger at the other person as a warning. The girl looked on alertly. Another half century has passed since the end of Jim Crow laws, and the phenomenon of racial discrimination in the United States has not changed. Can this situation change under the leadership of the new president? (Article/Things About World History)

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