GLOSSARY

JIM CROW is a symbol of racial segregation and prejudice.
JIM CROW Laws enforced racial segregation in 35 Southern US states from 1877 to the mid-1960’s.

These laws mandated segregation for blacks and whites in public schools, public places, and transportation plus prohibited intermarriage.
JIM CROW legal segregation ended after 1954 US Supreme Court decision Brown v Board of Ed, 1964 Civil Rights Act and 1965 Voting Rights Act (50+ years ago) – however de facto segregation still exists in America to this day - in housing, education, economic opportunities, and access to healthcare.  And the health impacts of the traumatic experience of segregation-discrimination are lifelong.

The character called JIM CROW was a racist depiction of an African-American man performed in the 1830’s in blackface by a white traveling actor, named Thomas Rice.

RESOURCES

Krieger (2016)  Jim Crow and Premature Mortality among the US Black and White Population, 1960-2009.  Epidemiology.   Black persons born in the segregated US South (prior to 1964) have a persistent increased mortality as compared to Blacks born outside segregated states.  In all states, Blacks have a persistent 2-fold excess premature mortality as compared to Whites.