4 Facts about the Origins of Jim Crow
The term was among other things, a song and dance act modelled after a slave
Long before Jim Crow became the name for legalised oppression of black people, it was a song.
Thomas Darmouth Rice noticed a slave with a crooked leg and deformed shoulder working and singing:
Wheel about and turn around do ji so
Ebratime I wheel about
I jump Jim Crow
Dartmouth found it inspiring, wrote a song which made fun of black people and called it “Jump Jim Crow”.
However this is not the true origin of the term which can be traced back to West Africa.
Many people often hear the name without truly knowing how it came about.
In this article, we are going to list the 4 facts that define Jim Crow.
1. The slaves and the crow symbolism
Life on a plantation was very harsh to say the least and slaves often tried to lift their spirits by singing.
Many among them came from West Africa where the crow has positive connotations.
It is a symbol of good luck, the Yorubas for instance believe that hurting a crow bring misery into one’s…
