Black History Month - Day 20
Black History Month - Day 20
From Jim Crow to Buxton, Iowa
During my trip to Louisiana in January of 2022, I came across this statue at the Louisiana State University Rural Museum. This statue stood out among the rural buildings, cabins, old cars and tools. I was intrigued by the imagery and its meaning. The statue was meant to show a black man in the Jim Crow south meeting a white person on a street. Head slightly bowed, no eye contact, and hat tipped in deference to the white person’s cultural superior. This image, frozen in bronze, epitomizes what Jim Crow was all about.
The museum sign that describes this display reads like this:
The Rural Museum of Louisiana posted a second sign to explain why they would display an object of such offense. Here is that sign:
Most people when they hear the phrase “Jim Crow” understand that it relates to the south in the post-Reconstruction period of United States history. But there are myths and misunderstandings about what Jim Crow was and how far it extended. We will try and expel some of these myths in this article.
The origins of the character of Jim Crow are typically traced to Thomas Dartmouth "Daddy" Rice (1808-60). Around 1835 or 1840 Rice did create a dance that would mimic the dances that he saw slaves on plantations perform. Throughout the 19th century and into the 20th century, minstrel performers would use blackface to mimic and degrade blacks by performing “Jump Jim Crow.”
Eventually the term Jim Crow was applied to the body of racial segregation laws and practices throughout the nation. As early as 1837 the term Jim Crow was used to describe racial segregation in Vermont. Yes, a northern state. It was also used to describe separate railroad cars for blacks and whites in Massachusetts by the 1840’s. Most of these laws, however, emerged in the southern and border states of the United States between the years 1876 and 1965.
There was a definitive ideology that undergirded Jim Crow laws. The objective was to create separation between whites and blacks, but that separation was based on the following beliefs:
whites were superior to blacks in all important ways, including but not limited to intelligence, morality, and civilized behavior;
sexual relations between blacks and whites would produce a mongrel race which would destroy America;
treating blacks as equals would encourage interracial sexual unions;
any activity which suggested social equality encouraged interracial sexual relations;
if necessary, violence must be used to keep blacks at the bottom of the racial hierarchy.
Additionally, Jim Crow included other social norms and etiquette that were to be understood and enforced. These were not written rules or laws although they could be codified, but they were the social norms of the south:
A black male could not offer his hand (to shake hands) with a white male because it implied being socially equal. Obviously, a black male could not offer his hand or any other part of his body to a white woman, because he risked being accused of rape.
Blacks and whites were not supposed to eat together. If they did eat together, whites were to be served first, and some sort of partition was to be placed between them.
Under no circumstance was a black male to offer to light the cigarette of a white female -- that gesture implied intimacy.
Blacks were not allowed to show public affection toward one another in public, especially kissing, because it offended whites.
Jim Crow etiquette prescribed that blacks were introduced to whites, never whites to blacks. For example: "Mr. Peters (the white person), this is Charlie (the black person), that I spoke to you about."
Whites did not use courtesy titles of respect when referring to blacks, for example, Mr., Mrs., Miss., Sir, or Ma'am. Instead, blacks were called by their first names. Blacks had to use courtesy titles when referring to whites, and were not allowed to call them by their first names.
If a black person rode in a car driven by a white person, the black person sat in the back seat, or the back of a truck.
White motorists had the right-of-way at all intersections.
(list is from Ferris State University “Jim Crow Museum”)
Signs such as these were constant reminders of the inferiority of blacks in society and the ideology of proscribed separation. Separation and Jim Crow norms affected every aspect of life in the south by the 20th century. Here are some of the typical Jim Crow laws, as compiled by the Martin Luther King, Jr., National Historic Site Interpretive Staff:
Barbers. No colored barber shall serve as a barber (to) white girls or women (Georgia).
Blind Wards. The board of trustees shall...maintain a separate building...on separate ground for the admission, care, instruction, and support of all blind persons of the colored or black race (Louisiana).
Burial. The officer in charge shall not bury, or allow to be buried, any colored persons upon ground set apart or used for the burial of white persons (Georgia).
Buses.All passenger stations in this state operated by any motor transportation company shall have separate waiting rooms or space and separate ticket windows for the white and colored races (Alabama).
Child Custody. It shall be unlawful for any parent, relative, or other white person in this State, having the control or custody of any white child, by right of guardianship, natural or acquired, or otherwise, to dispose of, give or surrender such white child permanently into the custody, control, maintenance, or support, of a negro (South Carolina).
Education.The schools for white children and the schools for negro children shall be conducted separately (Florida).
Libraries. The state librarian is directed to fit up and maintain a separate place for the use of the colored people who may come to the library for the purpose of reading books or periodicals (North Carolina).
Mental Hospitals. The Board of Control shall see that proper and distinct apartments are arranged for said patients, so that in no case shall Negroes and white persons be together (Georgia).
Militia. The white and colored militia shall be separately enrolled, and shall never be compelled to serve in the same organization. No organization of colored troops shall be permitted where white troops are available and where whites are permitted to be organized, colored troops shall be under the command of white officers (North Carolina).
Nurses. No person or corporation shall require any White female nurse to nurse in wards or rooms in hospitals, either public or private, in which negro men are placed (Alabama).
Prisons. The warden shall see that the white convicts shall have separate apartments for both eating and sleeping from the negro convicts (Mississippi).
Reform Schools. The children of white and colored races committed to the houses of reform shall be kept entirely separate from each other (Kentucky).
Teaching. Any instructor who shall teach in any school, college or institution where members of the white and colored race are received and enrolled as pupils for instruction shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof, shall be fined... (Oklahoma).
Wine and Beer. All persons licensed to conduct the business of selling beer or wine...shall serve either white people exclusively or colored people exclusively and shall not sell to the two races within the same room at any time (Georgia)
This explanation of Jim Crow rules, laws and norms makes the second part of today’s article even more amazing. Jim Crow existed in Northern states too. Iowa had a version of Jim Crow separation in various cities where there was a significant black population. This background makes the next part of the story even more significant.
Buxton Iowa - A “Black Utopia”
Buxton, Iowa was a coal company town, but it wasn't like any other company town. It was founded by Consolidation Coal Company in 1900 and when the company recruited miners they did not discriminate on the basis of race. Buxton became Iowa's first fully integrated town and the community thrived until the coal ran out by the 1920’s.
In February of 2022, I drove to the Buxton site which is only about 90 minutes from my home. It was a moving experience as I was able to walk along what used to be the streets of Buxton, and think and reflect about what that town was like during the height of Jim Crow hatred and bigotry.
Here is a link to a video that I made as I was walking the area that day. I apologize for the wind noise a a cough or two, but it is my own narration of what I experienced that day.
Places carry energy and power to help us use our imaginations. That is why is important to visit these types of places. I came away from that experience with more empathy, and more hope than I have had in a while. Just click the link to hear my story about Buxton.
Join me on my trip to Buxton, Iowa!
While the rest of the country was steeped in hatred, bigotry, segregation, violence and strife, the people of Buxton, Iowa, both black and white, found a way to live together in peace and harmony.
The story of Buxton tells us that although Jim Crow was pervasive and widespread, it also was not inevitable. People made a choice in Buxton to not abide by Jim Crow rules. They made it work…and we can too. We can make living in a multi-racial, pluralistic democracy work for everybody. But we have to decide we want to.
This is a story worth exploring and sharing. I’ll close by recommending two books about Buxton by Iowa author and Des Moines Register columnist, Rachelle Chase. You can find them at Lost Buxton website.