Jim-Crow
or jim-crow
- favoring or supporting Jim Crow.
- for black people only: a Jim-Crow school.
Jim Crow
or jim crow
- a practice or policy of segregating or discriminating against black people, as in public places, public vehicles, or employment.
- Disparaging and Offensive. a contemptuous term used to refer to a black person.
Origin of Jim Crow
Examples from the Web for jim-crow
Historical Examples
The white train crew from the baggage car uses the "Jim-Crow" to lounge in and perform their toilet.
DarkwaterW. E. B. Du Bois
This is the meaning of the Southern movement for segregating the races, of its jim-crow car laws and waiting-rooms.
The Ultimate CriminalArchibald H. Grimke
His jim-crow freight outfit didn't cut much of a figure in their track schedules.
Held for OrdersFrank H. Spearman
Accustomed to the jim-crow coach, the Pullman with its comfortable bed, its luxurious dining-car, was a revelation.
The ShadowMary White Ovington
The black social outcast wished "jim-crow" railway accommodations and signs proclaiming inequality of race to disappear.
jim crow
- the policy or practice of segregating Black people
- (as modifier)jim-crow laws
- a derogatory term for a Black person
- (as modifier)a jim-crow saloon
- an implement for bending iron bars or rails
- a crowbar fitted with a claw
Word Origin
Word Origin and History for jim-crow
Jim Crow
"black person," 1838, American English, originally the name of a black minstrel character in a popular song-and-dance act by T.D. Rice (1808-1860) that debuted 1828 and attained national popularity by 1832:
Wheel about, an' turn about, an' do jis so;
Eb'ry time I wheel about, I jump Jim Crow.
Where and how Rice got it, or wrote it, is a mystery. Even before that, crow (n.) had been a derogatory term for a black man. Association with segregation dates from 1842, in reference to a railroad car for blacks. Modern use as a type of racial discrimination is from 1943. In mid-19c., Jim Crow also could be a reference to someone's change of (political) principles (from the "jump" in the song).
Jim Crow
A descriptive term for the segregation of institutions, businesses, hotels, restaurants, and the like. It also refers to the laws that required racial segregation.