Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
adjective
- favoring or supporting Jim Crow.
- for black people only: a Jim-Crow school.
noun
- 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.
noun (often capitals) US
-
- the policy or practice of segregating Black people
- (as modifier)jim-crow laws
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- 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
“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).
A descriptive term for the segregation of institutions, businesses, hotels, restaurants, and the like. It also refers to the laws that required racial segregation.