User:Raerae231/History of African Americans in Kentucky

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In this article, the original author discusses several different aspects that shape and affect African Americans in Kentucky, historically. I added more information to their Jim Crow section, explaining what it was in more depth and adding more contextualization to the court cases they mentioned. I added much more information to what they had on the 1964 March on Frankfort, too, because they previously only included one sentence about it. In addition, I changed and added slightly more detail about the Day Law, because the author's claim was misinformation.

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Jim Crow section: The late 19th century to the middle of the 19960s, roughly, is referred to as the Jim Crow era in American history. During this time, African Americans were subjected to racial segregation and discrimination as a result of state and local laws. Segregation was required in public places like schools, housing, and transportation under the Jim Crow laws, and the Black community was denied access to basic civil rights, including the ability to vote, own property, and be treated equally before the law. African Americans experienced lynchings, police brutality, and systematic racism throughout the time, among other types of prejudice and violence. Kentucky was one of the Southern states where these laws were enforced. According to rules approved by the state legislature, African Americans and white students had to attend separate schools in Kentucky. Black children were denied access to the same quality of education, resources, and academic opportunities as their white peers under the segregation system that was used to implement these rules. African American schools in Kentucky received less financing and resources than white schools, which resulted in inequality. The curriculum had limited fundamental reading, writing, and math, due to overcrowding and understaffing. It was not until the Claybrook v. Owensboro lawsuit, in which Edward Claybrook and others sued the City of Owensboro, Kentucky to stop the use of taxes to fund segregated public education, that legal action was taken. For the purpose of teaching African American children in the city, only taxes collected from African Americans were to be used. US Circuit Judge John Barr decided, in 1883, that the system used to distribute school funding was unfair. Still, black students had limited access to school resources and materials. Then, in 1986, a United States Supreme Court ruling called Plessy v. Ferguson occurred. A challenge to a Louisiana law requiring "separate but equal" facilities for African Americans and whites on trains gave rise to the lawsuit. Homer Plessy, who was seven-eighths white and one-eighth African American, sat down in the train's "whites only" car on purpose and wouldn't get up when the conductor asked him to. He was detained and accused of breaking the law. According to Plessy, the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution, which ensures equal protection under the law, was broken by the statute. However, the Supreme Court maintained the rule, ruling that as long as the segregated accommodations offered to blacks and whites were of equal quality, there was no violation of the Constitution. This decision established the "separate but equal" doctrine, which allowed for racial segregation in public facilities and institutions throughout the United States for many years. One consequence of this was Kentucky outlawing the integration of higher education by enforcing the Day Law. There were other measures of segregation being taken in Kentucky, as well. The Eastern State Hospital in Lexington, Kentucky segregated the mentally ill patients. In addition, there were residential segregation ordinances passed in Madisonville, Kentucky, and Louisville, Kentucky, continuing the divide between Black and white individuals. The Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s, which resulted in the adoption of federal civil rights legislation that eliminated Jim Crow laws, brought an end to the Jim Crow era.

March on Frankfort section: Norman Blume, a Democratic representative from Louisville, Kentucky, presented a House-sponsored Public Accommodations bill prohibiting discrimination in employment, housing, and public facilities. However, the bill did not gain support from the Kentucky legislature or governor, and in response, a march was organized to advocate for the passage of this civil rights legislation. At 10 a.m. on March 5, 1964, approximately 10,000 people assembled at 2nd Street and Capitol Avenue in Frankfort, Kentucky, which was four blocks northeast of the Capitol building. The crowd began non-violently marching at noon in 30-degree weather, singing “We Shall Overcome”. Varying groups of people participated, including delegations from Berea College, Campbellsville, Union, Bellarmine, Ursuline, Eastern, and Kentucky State College. Additionally, people like Reverend W. J. Hodge, the State of Kentucky N.A.A.C.P. president, and James Farmer, the National Executive Secretary of the Congress on Racial Equality, were present, too. As everyone approached the steps of the Capitol, Frank Stanley Jr., Martin Luther King Jr., Jackie Robinson, D.E. King, and Ralph Abernathy, who are all African American figures, addressed the Kentucky elected officials to convince them to consider passing the bill. Although it was not signed until 1966 by the General Assembly, it was a victory for the Kentucky civil rights movement.

{small} Day Law edit: The Day law, which required racial segregation in all educational institutions in Kentucky was aimed specifically at Berea College, an integrated institution at the time, and forced the college to segregate or lose its state funding. It was overturned in 1950, which led to some universities admitting African Americans.