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• Jim Crow
  Jim Crow

  noun

  a practice or policy of segregating or discriminating against Black people, as in public places, public vehicles, or employment.
• jim crow
  jim crow

Jim Crow

American  

Or jim crow

noun

1. a practice or policy of segregating or discriminating against Black people, as in public places, public vehicles, or employment.

2. Disparaging and Offensive. a contemptuous term used to refer to a Black person.

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adjective

1. favoring or supporting a segregationist or discriminatory policy of Jim Crow.

2. for Black people only.

   a Jim Crow school.

jim crow British  

/ ˈdʒɪm ˈkrəʊ /

noun

1. 1. the policy or practice of segregating Black people

   2. ( as modifier )

      jim-crow laws

2. 1. a derogatory term for a Black person

   2. ( as modifier )

      a jim-crow saloon

3. an implement for bending iron bars or rails

4. a crowbar fitted with a claw

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Jim Crow Cultural  

1. A descriptive term for the segregation of institutions, businesses, hotels, restaurants, and the like. It also refers to the laws that required racial segregation.

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Other Word Forms

• jim-crowism
  noun

Etymology

Origin of Jim Crow

An Americanism dating back to 1830–40; so called from the name of a song sung by Thomas Rice (1808–60) in a minstrel show

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Jim Crow jim crow

These explored difficult aspects of American history — including slavery and Jim Crow — but also touched on more personal themes of family, memory, magic and spirituality.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026

Mary Porter is worried by the Supreme Court's ruling and says "we don't want those kind of laws, Jim Crow laws, to come back"

From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026

But that is not, in fact, how Harlan meant it: In context, his broader argument was that permitting Jim Crow segregation would authorize a racial “caste” forbidden by the 14th Amendment.

From Slate ● Jun. 22, 2026

“He was wrong to do so,” Mr. Pence tells us, “as the Jim Crow laws of the southern states amounted to a systematic abuse of the nation’s highest principles.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 1, 2026

Some whites were directly harmed by Jim Crow.

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander

His arms had been laden with T shirts reading jim crow must go.

From Time Magazine Archive