American History Series: How Civil Rights Happened

I read Morris V. de Camp’s article this morning at Counter-Currents on how “civil rights” became a thing in the United States. He sees it as being primarily the result of Jewish ethnic activism in the 20th century. In this narrative, the roots of “civil rights” can be traced back to Black Republicanism in the Reconstruction era, but abolitionists quickly abandoned the scheme and there was no real resistance to the rise of the Jim Crow South. Jews imposed “civil rights” on America in the 20th century.

In our view, there was a seamless transition between abolitionist radicalism and civil rights radicalism and women’s suffrage radicalism during the Reconstruction era. Northern Whites grew tired of dealing with the South’s interminable racial problems in the Gilded Age and effectively granted home rule to the South. The South became the stronghold of the Democratic Party while the North became the stronghold of the Republican Party which continued to implement “civil rights” at the state level.

There were three different regional racial systems in America from Reconstruction to World War II. There was the Jim Crow South which upheld segregation and white supremacy. There was the Jim Crow West which had a milder version of segregation and white supremacy that was largely focused on Asians, Hispanics and American Indians. Finally, there was the North which had been largely integrated with civil rights laws since the War Between the States and Reconstruction. There are parts of the North where racial integration goes back even further due to the influence of liberalism.

World War II was such a huge turning point because the North was already integrated. It was already committed to civil rights. After taking over the liberal world order from Britain and becoming “the leader of the free world,” the Western states desegregated and passed civil rights laws between 1945 and 1965. The South was brought to heel by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 which were only passed by lopsided majorities of Northern and Western Whites.

Let’s take a look at state laws in the Northeast and Midwest between 1865 and 1940. The following information about civil rights laws comes from the now defunct Jim Crow History website.

Maine

Made miscegenation legal in 1883, making it one of the first states in the nation to pass such legislation. A statute passed in 1893 required electors to be able to read the Constitution in English.

1883: Barred anti-miscegenation [Statute]
1821 law prohibiting intermarriage between whites and blacks repealed.

1893: Voter rights [Constitution]
Required an elector to be able to read the Constitution in English and write his name.

1893: Voting [State Code]
A Constitutional amendment was passed in 1893 requiring electors to be able to read the Constitution in English and write his name.

Vermont

Passed no segregation laws between 1865 and 1957. A 1957 statute barred public accommodations segregation.

Massachusetts

As early as 1843, Massachusetts began repealing segregation laws passed earlier in the state’s history. Twelve statutes barring segregation were enacted between 1865 and 1957, making Massachusetts’ legislative record one of the most progressive in the nation. The state did, however, impose a language requirement for electors in 1892, and ordered that race be considered in adoption petitions in 1955.

1865: Barred public accommodations segregation [Statute]
Discrimination in any inn, public place of amusement, public carrier, or public meeting prohibited. Penalty: Fine up to $50.

1866: Barred public accommodations segregation [Statute]
Unlawful to exclude persons or restrict them from entering any theater or public place of amusement. Penalty: Fine up to $50.

1885: Barred public accommodations segregation [Statute]
Prohibited discrimination on account of color or race, or “except for good cause,” in admission to any theater, skating rink, or other public place or amusement. Penalty: fine up to $100.

1892: Voting rights [Statute]
Required voters to be able to read state Constitution in English and write their name.

1892: Voting [Statute]
The state passed a statute in 1892 declaring that voters be able to read the state constitution in English and write their name.

1893: Barred public accommodations segregation [Statute]
Expanded 1885 law to include barber shops and other public places open for “hire, gain, or reward.”

1894: Barred school segregation [Statute]
No person shall be excluded from a public school on account of race, color, or the religious opinions of the applicant.

1895: Barred public accommodations segregation [Statute]
Prohibited discrimination or restriction on account of color or race relative to the admission of any person in a public place. Penalty: Fine up to $300 or imprisonment up to one year, or both, and shall pay injured party between $25 and $300.

1933: Civil rights protection [Statute]
Outlawed racial discrimination. Penalty: Criminal prosecution and damages.

Connecticut

Passed only one segregation law in 1879 authorizing a separate black militia. In 1905 the state barred segregation of public facilities. Seven additional civil rights statutes were passed between 1925 and 1958.

1879: Military [Statute]
Authorized state to organize four independent companies of infantry of “colored men.” Companies were to receive same pay as other companies, including one company parade in the Spring and one in September.

1905: Barred public accommodation segregation [Statute]
Unlawful to deprive another person of full and equal enjoyment of any place of public accommodation, amusement or transportation on the basis of race. Penalty: Double damages awarded to the injured person.

1908: Miscegenation [Statute]
Prohibited intermarriage between white persons and those persons having one-eighth or more Negro blood. Penalty: Performing such a ceremony subject to a fine between $100 to $1,000. If the white person knows the other is of Negro or mixed blood, subject to a fine between $100 and $1,000. Could be imprisoned in state prison between one and ten years.

1925: Antidefamation [Statute]
Prohibited motion picture theaters from showing any film which ridiculed the Negro race.

1933: Miscegenation [Statute]
Miscegenation declared a felony.

1933: Education [Statute]
Allowed the establishment of separate schools for Negroes if the authorities believe that such separation is necessary or proper.

1933: Civil rights protection [Statute]
Outlawed racial discrimination.

1933: Civil rights protection [Statute]
Outlawed racial discrimination. Penalty: Criminal prosecution.

1935: Education [Statute]
Upheld school segregation as originally authorized by statute of 1869.

New Jersey

Twelve statutes barring segregation were passed in the state between 1881 and 1957. No segregation laws were enacted during this period.

1881: Barred school segregation [Statute]
No child between the age of five and 18 years of age would be excluded from public school on account of religion, nationality, or color.

1884: Barred public accommodations segregation [Statute]
Entitled all persons equal access to inns, public transportation, theaters and other places of public amusement regardless of race, color and previous servitude. Penalty: Misdemeanor. Offenders would be required to pay the injured party $500. Fined between $500 and $1,000, or imprisonment between 30 days and one year.

1898: Barred public accommodations segregation [Statute]
Cemeteries prohibited from refusing to permit the burial of any deceased person on account of color. Penalty: Misdemeanor.

1903: Barred school segregation [Statute]
No child between the age of four and 20 years could be excluded from any public school on account of religion, nationality, or color. Penalty: Misdemeanor, with a fine between $50 and $250, or by imprisonment in county jail, workhouse, or penitentiary between 30 days and six months, or both.

1911: Barred public accommodations segregation [Statute]
Outlawed racial discrimination by cemeteries.

1924: Civil Rights Protection [Statute]
Outlawed racial discrimination. Penalty: Criminal prosecution and damages.

1929: Education [Statute]
Segregated schools authorized for Negroes.

Pennsylvania

A school segregation law passed in 1869, but was overturned in 1872. Segregation of public transportation was banned in 1867; discrimination within public facilities was outlawed in 1887. The state passed eight civil rights statutes between 1867 and 1950. A 1956 statute required adoption petitions to state the race or color of prospective adopting parents.

1867: Barred public carrier segregation [Statute]
Unlawful to exclude any person on account of color or race from riding on railroads. Penalty: $500 to be paid to injured party. Employees who violated the law guilty of misdemeanor, and could be fined between $100 and $500, or be imprisoned between 30 days and three months.

1869: Education [Statute]
Black children prohibited from attending Pittsburgh schools.

1872: Barred school segregation [Statute]
Repealed law of 1869 that prevented black children from attending public schools in Pittsburgh.

1881: Barred school segregation [Statute]
Unlawful for any teacher or school administrator to discriminate against students based on race or color.

1887: Barred public accommodations segregation [Statute]
Denial to use restaurants, hotels, railroads, streetcars, theaters, concert halls, or places of amusement to a person based on race or color was unlawful. Penalty: Misdemeanor, punishable by a fine between $50 to $100.

1911: Barred school segregation [Statute]
Banned school segregation

1935: Civil rights protection [Statute]
Outlawed racial discrimination. Penalty: Criminal prosecution.

Ohio

Enacted a miscegenation statute in 1877 and a school segregation law in 1878. Segregation of public facilities was barred in 1884, and the earlier miscegenation and school segregation laws were overturned in 1887. However, in 1953, the state enacted a law requiring that race be considered in adoption decisions.

1877: Miscegenation [Statute]
Unlawful for a person of “pure white blood, who intermarries, or has illicit carnal intercourse, with any Negro or person having a distinct and visible admixture of African blood.” Penalty: Fined up to $100, or imprisoned up to three months, or both. Any person who knowingly officiates such a marriage charged with misdemeanor and fined up to $100 or imprisoned in three months, or both.

1878: Education [Statute]
School districts given discretion to organize separate schools for colored children if “in their judgment it may be for the advantage of the district to do so.”

1884: Barred public accommodations segregation [Statute]
All persons of every race and color entitled to full and equal enjoyment of public accommodations, facilities, inns, public transportation, theaters and other places of public amusement. Penalty: Misdemeanor, with $100 paid to injured party, and fine of $100 or imprisonment of 30 days, or both.

1887: Barred miscegenation and school segregation [Statute]
Repealed separate school law of 1878 and 1877 law that banned intermarriage.

1934: Civil rights protection [State Code]
Outlawed racial discrimination. Penalty: Criminal prosecution and damages.

Michigan

Although no segregation laws were passed in Michigan after the Civil War, a 1957 statute required that race be used as a consideration in adoption petitions. The state banned school segregation in 1871, followed by a statute that made miscegenation legal in 1883. Eleven civil rights statutes were passed by the state between 1871 and 1957.

1871: Barred school segregation [Statute]
Prohibited separate schools or departments based on race or color. Allowed for the grading of schools according to the intellectual progress of pupils.

1883: Barred anti-miscegenation [Statute]
Declared all marriages between white persons and those wholly or partly of African descent to be legal.

1885: Barred public accommodation segregation [Statute]
Entitled all persons to full and equal access to inns, restaurants, barber shops, public transportation, theaters, and all other places of public amusement. Penalty: Misdemeanor punished by a fine up to $100, or imprisonment up to 30 days, or both.

1899: Anti-miscegenation [Statute]
Marriage law of 1883 reconfirmed.

1933: Civil rights protection [Statute]
Outlawed racial discrimination. Penalty: Criminal prosecution.

Indiana

Enacted seven Jim Crow laws in the areas of education and miscegenation between 1869 and 1952. Persons who violated the miscegenation law could be imprisoned between one and ten years. The state barred school segregation in 1877, followed by a law giving equal access to public facilities in 1885.

1869: Education [Statute]
Separate schools to be provided for black children. If not a sufficient number of students to organize a separate school, trustees were to find other means of educating black children.

1877: Barred school segregation [Statute]
If separate schools could not be provided for black children they were to be admitted to public schools with white children. If a child in a colored school made sufficient advancement to be in a higher grade than offered by colored schools, he would be entitled to enter a school for white children, with no distinction made on account of race or color.

1885: Barred public accommodations segregation [Statute]
Enabled all persons to enjoy inns, restaurants, barber shops, public transportation, theaters, public amusement. Penalty: Misdemeanor that carried a fine of no more than $100, or imprisonment up to 30 days, or both. Victims were to be paid a sum of up to $100.

1905: Miscegenation [Statute]
Miscegenation prohibited.

Illinois

Fourteen anti-segregation statutes banning separation in schools and public facilities were enacted between 1865 and 1958, marking the state’s legislative record as one of the most progressive in the nation. However, Illinois, beginning in the 1920s, became a leader in using restrictive covenants to maintain residential segregation.

1865: Barred residency segregation [Statute]
Repealed 1853 act making it a misdemeanor for a Negro to move to Illinois.

1874: Barred school segregation [Statute]
Boards of education prohibited from excluding any child on account of color from the public schools. Penalty: Those who excluded children based on race would be fined between $5 and $100. Those who threatened a child from attending a public school were subject to a fine up to $25.

1885: Barred public accommodation segregation [Statute]
Made inns, restaurants, barber shops, public transportation, theaters and places of public amusement available to all persons. Penalty: Violators of the act would be fined between $25 and $500, paid to the victim, and would also be guilty of a misdemeanor, and subject to a fine of up to $500.

1896: Barred school segregation [Statute]
Prohibited school officers from excluding children from public schools on the basis of color. Penalty: $5 to $100.

1897: Barred public accommodation segregation [Statute]
1885 law amended to include hotels, soda-fountains, saloons, bathrooms, theaters, skating-rinks, concerts, cafes, bicycle rinks, elevators, ice cream parlors, railroads, stages, streetcars and boats.

1903: Barred public accommodation segregation [Statute]
1885 law extended to include funeral hearses as list of public services available to all persons.

1911: Barred public accommodations segregation [Statute]
Amendment to 1885 Civil Rights law stating that cemeteries could not discriminate based on race the choice of burial plots for burying the dead.

1917: Antidefamation [Statute]
Unlawful to “manufacture, sell or offer for sale, advertise or publish, prsent or exhibit in any public place any lithograph, moving picture, play, drama or sketch, which publication or exhibition portrays depravity, criminality, unchastity, or lack of virtue of a class of citizens, of any race, color, creed or religion…which exposes the citizens of any race, color, creed or religion to contempt, derision, or obloquy or which is productive of breach of the peace or riots.” Penalty: Misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of between $50 and $200.

1927: Housing [Municipal Code]
Chicago adopted racially restrictive housing covenants beginning in 1927, although other tactics had been used in earlier years to maintain a segregated city. At one time, as much as 80 percent of the city may have been covered by restrictive covenants. In 1924, Nathan MacChesney, a prominent Chicago attorney and a member of the Chicago Planning Commission, drafted an addition to the Code of Ethics of the National Association of Real Estate Boards that “forbade realtors to introduce members of any race or nationality” into neighborhoods where their presence would damage property values. In 1927, MacChesney drafted a model racial restrictive covenant for the Chicago Real Estate Board, solely targeting African Americans. The Chicago Real Estate Board promoted the covenant to YMCAs, churches, women’s clubs, PTAs, Kiwanis clubs, chambers of commerce and property owners’ associations. Hyde Park, Woodlawn, Park Manor, South Shore, and other neighborhoods on Chicago’s South Side adjacent to the so-called “black belt,” responded as well as outlying Chicago neighborhoods and suburbs. Additionally, the University of Chicago was a strong supporter of the covenant campaign in Washington Park, although they denied their affiliation for many years. In 1948, the United States Supreme Court ruled that enforcement of racial restrictive covenants was unconstitutional. The Supreme Court’s ruling, however, did not put an end to the problem of blacks finding adequate housing. Homeowner associations continued to push for segregation. Shortly after the court decision, the Woodlawn Property Owners wrote:

If the colored people are convinced that life in Woodlawn would be unbearable, they would not want to come in. There must be ways and means to keep whites from selling, causing colored not to want to come in because life here would be unbearable. We are going to save Woodlawn for ourselves and our children!

(Deeds of Mistrust: Race, Housing, and Restrictive Covenants in Chicago, 1900-1950)

1933: Civil rights protection [Statute]
Outlawed racial discrimination. Penalty: Criminal prosecution and damages.

1933: Barred employment discrimination [Statute]
Prohibited discrimination and intimidation on account of race or color in employment under contracts for public buildings or public works. Penalties: $100 for each offense. Fines up to $500 and or imprisonment up to 30 days.

Wisconsin

Barred segregation of public accommodations and public transportation in 1895, and passed three additional civil rights statutes by 1957. An 1893 statute restricted the voting rights of Native Americans.

1893: Voting rights [Statute]
Voting rights were to include “any civilized person being a descendant of the Chippewa’s of Lake Superior, or any other Indian tribe, who does not reside on an Indian reservation and who shall subscribe to an oath…that he is not a member of any Indian tribe, and has no claim upon the U.S. for aid and assistance and he relinquishes all tribal relation, and right to receive any aid from the United States.”

1893: Voting [Constitution]
A statute passed in 1893 noted that voting rights were to include “any civilized person being a descendant of the Chippewas of Lake Superior, or any other Indian tribe, who does not reside on an Indian reservation and who shall subscribe to an oath…that he is not a member of any Indian tribe, and has no claim upon the U.S. for aid and assistance and he relinquishes all tribal relation, and right to receive any aid from the United States.”

1895: Barred public accommodations segregation [Statute]
Those who denied access to public accommodations or public transportation to persons based on race or color, or who required any person to pay a larger sum than the regular rate charged were liable. Penalty: Payment of at least $5 with costs to the injured party and a fine of up to $100, or confinement in the county jail up to six months, or both.

1931: Civil rights protection [Statute]
Outlawed racial discrimination.

Minnesota

Ranks as one of the most progressive states in the nation regarding civil rights. The state passed eight anti-segregation laws between 1877 and 1947, giving minorities full access to public schools, transportation and facilities. Reflecting the state’s egalitarian spirit, the 1877 statute that barred school segregation states that children could not be denied access to schools based on “color, social position, or nationality.” In 1917, a constitutional amendment was adopted denying the right to vote to all Native Americans who maintained tribal relations.

1877: Barred school segregation [Statute]
Unlawful to deny children admission to public schools based on “color, social position, or nationality.” Penalty: $50 for each offense. Offending district would lose public school funds.

1885: Barred public accommodations segregation [Statute]
All persons entitled to full access to inns, public transportation, theaters, restaurants, barber shops and places of public amusement. Penalty: Fine from $100 to $500, or imprisonment from 30 days to one year.

1897: Barred public accommodations segregation [Statute]
Strengthened 1885 law to include soda fountains and ice cream parlors. Penalty: Misdemeanor with a fine from $25 to $100, or confinement in a county jail from 30 to 90 days. Damages from $25 to $500 awarded to the injured party.

1899: Barred public accommodation segregation [Statute]
Restatement of 1885 and 1887 laws.

1905: Barred school segregation [Statute]
School districts prohibited from classifying students according to race or color, nor separate them into different schools for these reasons. Penalty: Forfeiture by a district of its share of public school funds.

1917: Voting rights [Constitution]
Denied the right to vote to all “tribal Indians.” To vote, Indians had to sever relationships with their tribes.

1917: Voting [Constitution]
In 1917, a constitutional amendment denied the right to vote to all “tribal Indians.” To vote, Indians had to sever relationships with their tribes.

1927: Civil rights protection [Statute]
Outlawed racial discrimination. Penalty:Criminal prosecution and damages.

Iowa

No record of segregation laws enacted in this state after the Civil War. In 1884, Iowa barred segregation of public facilities. The law was expanded in 1892 with additional statutes passed in 1931 and 1946.

1884: Barred public accommodations segregation [Statute]
Entitled all persons to enjoy public accommodations such as inns, public transportation, barber shops, theaters and other places of amusement. Penalty: Misdemeanor.

1892: Barred public accommodations segregation [Statute]
Strengthened 1884 civil rights law to include “restaurants, chop-houses, lunch counters, and all other places where refreshments are served and bath houses.”

1931: Civil rights protection [Statute]
Outlawed racial discrimination. Penalty: Criminal prosecution and damages.

Kansas

Although the state barred school segregation in some districts beginning in 1874, by 1905 a law was passed allowing for schools in Kansas City to be segregated. An 1874 statute barred public accommodations segregation.

1868: Education [Statute]
In cities of more than 150,000 persons, separate schools for black or mulatto persons were to be established.

1874: Barred public accommodations segregation [Statute]
Prohibited state universities, or other public schools, inns, hotels, boarding houses, places of public amusement, and public transportation from discriminating based on race, or previous condition of servitude. Penalty: Misdemeanor. Fines between $10 and $1,000; liable for damages to be paid to the injured person. Fines would be allocated to the public school fund.

1879: Barred school segregation [Statute]
Cities larger than 150,000 could separate students by race, except in the high schools, where no discrimination would be allowed on the basis of color.

1889: Barred school segregation [Statute]
Prohibited discrimination in Wichita’s public high school based on race or color.

1905: Education [Statute]
Schools in Kansas City, Kansas, may organize and maintain separate schools for education of white and colored children, including high schools; “but no discrimination on account of color shall be made in high schools, except as provided herein.”

1923: Civil rights protection [Statute]
Outlawed racial discrimination, including racial discrimination in any state university, college or other school of public instruction. Penalty: Criminal prosecution and damages.

About Hunter Wallace 12379 Articles
Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Occidental Dissent

16 Comments

  1. Neither forced integration nor forced segregation should be implemented. People should have complete freedom of association. If some want to be segregated they should have that right, if some want to be integrated they should have that right. The state should not force either position on a populous. I find it interesting that many here including HW rail against the centralization of the deep state when it goes against their worldview, but if in power would force their worldview on the population via forced segregation.

    • The process you describe is the blueprint the left used to get its stranglehold on power. When they had less power than they do now, they advocated for the same positions that they are now trying to crush. Freedom of speech being a prime example.That is the path forward. Yes, that means we won’t be playing fair. It does means we are out to crush our enemies, not give them a fighting chance.

  2. Hunter, my dear gentleman, I realize your eager, fervid desire to blame the Yanquis for the horrors of “integration” – but you do appreciate the fact than when the majority of these laws were passed, Northern and Midwestern Whites had an almost non-existent experience of Negroes As They Are, don’t you?

    Southern Whites learned of Racial Reality, firsthand, from almost the beginning. Most of the country was very White until, really, the 21rst century.

    We need to know the agitators and legislators that passed this insanity. I maintain the Judaism and their stupid vassal mind-worm, Christardinsanity, are the genuine culprits.

  3. We haven’t had freedom of association for quite some time. Schools have busing, and the elites have been importing replacements. All of this has been done without our consent. Choices are being made for us all the time. Which is why many of us here aren’t pushing for ethnostates, due to the lack of opportunity in the current system. Carving out our own niches and pockets of areas is a more likely scenario. Without the active interference of the kakistocracy, most people choose to be among their own. That means voluntary and purposeful gathering of the like-minded. Looking further down the road, that might also entail setting up cooperative networks of home and small businesses, political organizing, and so on. Can people pull together, and stop worrying about convenience? Otherwise, we’ll have to hope people will spontaneously organize based on how red-pilled they become. That’s easier to accomplish in rural areas, of course, as would be those cooperative networks.

    • Rich, I agree wholeheartedly. I am quite fortunate to be a minority in many of the situations, school, work, neighborhood, that I have found myself in. This has had the effect of constantly being reminded, verbally, physically and mentally, that I am a White Man. I haven’t had to wonder how others would perceive me. That has been made as clear as day from my earliest recollections.

      Initially, I thought that the re-enactor community had a very family oriented and racially conscious atmosphere. But, after being involved in it for awhile, I found that these people still don’t fully acknowledge the problem of displacement. It’s like deep down they know why they are drawn into the past, but they are in denial.

      The saddest thing is the so-called Irish Festival in Dallas. Other than a few performers that are dedicated to the theme, and the Scottish clans (to which I am related), there is very little that is genuine. There are a lot of women with blue hair and guys wearing leather kilts, and the green beer is overflowing even at exorbitant prices. Of course, there are always a few Negroes flaunting red headed Strumpets. Though, it’s very hard to imagine that these women have any pride in their ancestry. It’s seems more as though they are there to mock their forebears and anyone who actually seeks a connection to them.

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