How Did Jim Crow Laws Affect The Criminal Justice System

Jim Crow, originating in the late 19th century, was the name given to the racial caste system that implemented many anti-black legislations. Following the Great Depression of the 1930’s, the poverty that resulted from the economic disaster created more racial tension between whites and blacks. Working class white Americans blamed black Americans for stealing their jobs and homes, which influenced local and state governments to reinforce the “separate but equal” decision from the Plessy v. Ferguson Case. Along with the violence black Americans received from white supremacists in the 1950’s, the Jim Crow Laws delayed the progress of blacks by prohibiting them from receiving equal treatment in the criminal justice system, especially in the cases
Because of the anti-black views America had, the chances of blacks receiving justice against whites in the criminal justice system were nearly impossible. In the murder case of Emmett Till, the evidence against the murderers - who were white - was overwhelming. The two men named Roy Bryant and J.W Milam brutally tortured and murdered Emmett or allegedly whistling at Roy’s wife, Carolyn (Biography.com). The two men beat Emmett until his face was unrecognizable and shot him in the head. Soon afterwards, they tied a 75 pound cotton-gin fan onto Emmett’s body and tossed his corpse into the Tallahatchie River. The case was settled in the South and the all-white jurors read out to the court that Roy and J.W were not guilty of murder (History.com). In the murder case George Washington Lee, the outcome was similar. George Washington Lee was the head of the Belzoni, Mississippi, branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and advocated for blacks to vote. George Washington Lee is most remembered for giving a speech at the Regional Council of Negro Leadership, in which he promoted black self-sufficiency, voting rights, and the