The term "Jim Crow" refers to a series of laws and customs that enforced racial segregation in the southern United States between the late 1800s and mid-1960s. The name comes from a minstrel show character named Jim Crow, which was used as a derogatory term for African Americans during this period.
The laws and customs associated with Jim Crow segregation were designed to keep white people separate from black people in public spaces such as schools, buses, trains, restaurants, bathrooms, and drinking fountains. This separation was enforced through violence, intimidation, and legal sanction.
The end of Jim Crow segregation came with the passage of civil rights laws in 1964 and 1965, which outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin. While these laws have helped to improve equality for many people, there is still work to be done to achieve true racial equity in the United States.