The Concept "Jim Crow"
Author(s): Hugh H. Smythe
Source: Social Forces, Vol. 27, No. 1 (Oct., 1948 - May, 1949), pp. 45-48
Published by: Oxford University Press
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TEACHING AND RESEARCH
45
THE CONCEPT"JIM CROW"
HUGH H. SMYTHE
National Associationfor the Advancement
of ColoredPeople
IN
ANY field of endeavor terminology is a neces- word or term may be, and frequently is, used in
sary tool and the development of concepts is some other field. As Sapir says, "The birth of a
basic to the functioning and workability of new concept is invariably foreshadowed by a more
that field. The social sciences have been rich in or less strained or extended use of old linguistic
this regard, to such an extent that the develop- material."2 Even a brief examination of the term
ment of concepts has on occasion led to confusion "Jim Crow" indicates that it unquestionably
and hindered rather than helped in the clarification relates to the associational life of human beings,
of problems. However, in this accumulation of and that its extension into the popular vocabulary
terminology, particularlyin sociology, a term of im- is based upon old linguistic material.
The earliest public use of "Jim Crow" appears to
portance is sometimes overlooked and this apparently has been the case in regard to the concept have been in 1832, when a song and dance by that
"Jim Crow." Even a brief examination of the name, which apparently originated in Cincinnati,
term reveals that by all standards for the accept- was introduced to New York.3 In 1841, the term
ance of a term as a sociological concept, "Jim was first used in Massachusetts to apply to a railCrow" rightfully belongs as a permanent part of road car set apart for the use of Negroes. The
phrase, then, has a somewhat more dignified origin
the language of the discipline.
Although the writer has been interested for some than is ordinarily attributed to it by those who
time in the sociologicalimplications of "Jim Crow" have considered it only as an opprobious compariand its concommitants, discriminationand segrega- son of the color of the Negro with that of the crow.4
The term itself has become so inseparably affixed
tion, particularly with reference to Negroes,
recently legal proceedings in the District Court of to the laws separating the races in public places
the United States for the Southern District of New that at least two states, North Carolinaand MaryYork impressed upon him not only the widespread land, are known to have indexed the laws olnthat
use of this term but the sociological unawarenessof subject under "J" in some of their annual compilait and the consequent need for "official"sociologi- tions of statutes.5 The Century Dictionary6 concal recognition of the phrase. In a case involving tains several definitionsof "Jim Crow,"and Krapp,
the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Company as in A ComprehensiveGuide to GoodEnglish,7 points
defendants, the Railroad moved that the court out that this phrase has been so frequently used
strike from the plaintiff's amended complaint the that it is accepted as a part of stanidardAmerican
phrase "Jim Crow," stating that the term was English and has been for many years.
"scandalous, impertinent, and/or immaterial."
Eubanks contends that the question, however,
The plaintiff, however, contended that the term is
not whether the concept is used elsewhere, but
was used in context properly and correctly and
whether as used in sociology it signifies "an idea
wvasa common and accepted part of standard
that is distinctive and essential to itself." Many
AmericanEnglish, with a meaning generally underterm used in popularparlance, when sociologically
a
stood and carrying a significant societal connotahas a meaning all its own, and which it
defined,
of
with
the
separation
associated
tion, particularly
Negroes and whites within the framework of
2 Sapir, Language (New York: Harcourt, Brace,
society in this country.'
1921), p. 16.
While there is no absolute criterion as to the
3 V. Loggins, The Negro A utizor(New York: Columbia
range of operation of sociology, sociologists are in University Press, 1931), pp. 356.
4 Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia, I, p. 546.
basic agreement that this field relates particularly
5 G. T. Stephenson, Race Distinctions in American
to the forms and activities of the associational life
Law
(New York: D. Appleton & Co. 1910), p. 208.
of mankind. Its concepts, therefore, are those
8 Ibid.
See Vol. V, 1913 edition, p. 3233.
of
analyzing
course
in
the
which have emerged
P. Krapp, A ComprehensiveGuide to Good
George
those associational forms and activities. The
Berta Mae Watkins v. Atlantic Coast Line Railroad
Company, 42-413 U. S. (1948).
I
English (Chicago, 1927), p. 342.
8 E. E. Eubank, The Conceptsof Sociology (New York:
Heath, 1932), p. 37.
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46
SOCIAL FORCES
did not have until sociology gave it a unique content.
A review of the use made of the concept "Jim
Crow" reveals that it has become so much a part
of the social pattern of America that its ideational
expression unconsciously connotes a distinctive
situation. Thus, although this commonness of
understanding makes it societary, the essential
distinctiveness of applying it over a long period
almost exclusively to social situations involving
the Negro as a subordinate entity and whites as a
superordinate factor, has given it a connotation,
when used in the context of the Americanlanguage,
of a specific sociological circumstance or condition.
Sociologically, "Jim Crow" is a concept intelligently interpreted in connection with the concept
"accommodation." It refers specifically to a
human group in the United States functioning on a
basis of inequality in the social system which has
resulted in social stratification and segregation.
It infers that in the stratified societal pattern of
the United States a caste-like group exists (in this
instance the Negro) which has been assigned to a
low position and for which the contacts with the
group on a higher level are regulated; the term
"Jim Crow"is thus used succinctly to describe this
situation to which the Negro has become accommodated.
In substantiation of the above, one has but to
consult the literature of sociology and other disciplines to assess the validity of and to recognize
the specific meaning and general acceptance of the
concept "Jim Crow." It is found widely used in
the workson ethnic researchin sociology, especially
those concerning race relations and pertaining to
the segregation of Negroes or to the discrimination
practiced against them in various aspects of
society; e.g. the studies of Dollard, R. A. Warner,
Fairchild, Powdermaker, DuBois, Drake and
Cayton, Rose, and Cox.9 In the series of studies
9 John Dollard, Caste and Class in a Southern Town
(New Haven: Yale University Press, 1937), p. 180; R.
A. Warner, New Haven Negroes (New Haven: Yale
University Press, 1940), p. 190; H. P. Fairchild, Race
and Nationality As Factors in American Life (New
York: The Ronald Press, 1947), p. 197; Hortense Powdermaker, After Freedom (New York: The Viking
Press, 1939), pp. 43, 349; W. E. B. DuBois, An Appeal
to the World (New York: National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People, 1947), p. 51; St. Clair
Drake and Horace Cayton, Black Metropolis (New
York: Harcourt, Brace & Company, 1945), p. xxix;
Arnold Rose, The Negro in America (New York: Harper
concerning Negro youth preparedfor the American
Youth Commission of the American Council on
Education,'0 reference is made freely to "Jim
Crow." Gunnar Myrdal, in his epic on the Negro
problem in the United States,1"employs the term,
and it is used in the series of studies on the Negro
sponsored by the Carnegie Corporation and done
under the direction of Dr. Myrdal,'2 as well as in
the symposium volume of Negro thought and
opinion published by the University of North
Carolina Press and edited by Rayford W. Logan.'3
It was used by Robert E. Park,'4 and it is found in
introductory textbooks in sociology.'5
But the currency of the concept has not been
confined to the literature of ethnic sociology alone.
It has found currency in writings in political
science,16education,'7 economics,'" history,'9 and
& Brothers, 1948), pp. 190-191, 213-217; Oliver Cromwell Cox, Caste, Class, and Race (New York: Doubleday
& Company, Inc., 1948), pp. 430, 451-452, 468, 496, 577.
10Ira De A. Reid, In A Minor Key (Washington,
D.C., 1940); Allison Davis and John Dollard, Children
of Bondage (Washington, 1940); E. Franklin Frazier,
Negro Youth at the Crossways (Washington, 1940); W.
L. Warner, B. H. Junker, and W. A. Adams, Color and
Human Nature (Washington, 1940); Charles S. Johnson, Growing Up in the Black Belt (Washington, 1941).
11An American Dilemma (New York: Harper &
Brothers, 1944), pp. 191, 578-581.
12 M. J. Herskovits, The Myth of the Negro Past
(1941); Charles S. Johnson, Patterns of Negro Segregation (1943); Richard Sterner, The Negro's Share (1943);
Otto Klineberg, Characteristics of the American Negro
(1944). All of these volumes were published by Harper
& Brothers, New York.
13Rayford W. Logan, ed., What the Negro Wants
(Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1944),
p. 300.
14 In his introduction to Bertram Doyle's Etiquette of
Race Relations in the South (Chicago: University of
Chicago Press, 1937), p. xxiv.
15 R. L. Sutherland and J. L. Woodward, Introductory
Sociology (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott, 1940), p. 389.
16 H. F. Gosnell, Negro Politicians (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1935), pp. 36, 339.
17 Buell G. Gallagher, American Caste and the Negro
College (New York: Columbia University Press, 1938),
pp. 86, 96.
18 Herbert Northrup, Organized Labor and the Negro
(New York: Harper & Brothers, 1944), pp. 2, 234.
19John Hope Franklin, From Slavery to Freedom
(New York: A. A. Knopf. Inc., 1947), p. 338; Herbert
Aptheker, To Be Free (New York: International Publishers, 1948), p. 124.
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TEACHINGAND RESEARCH
philosophy.20 As early as 1837 it is found in a
biographicalvolume entitled Jim Crow,21and more
recently in an autobiographyof W. E. B. DuBois.22
It is to be found in sourcebooks,23in the writings of
foreign authors,24in popularizedversions of studies
on race relations,25and in official reports of the
United States Army.26
Many of the nation's newspapers, both general
and specific, recognizingthe accepted meaning and
widespread usage of the term "Jim Crow" to describe the proscriptive social practices under which
the Negro exists in the social milieu of the United
States, have consistently used it in text material
and in headlining articles;27and this includes even
47
the august New York Times.28 Publications other
than newspapers, such as professional journals,29
popular magazines,30 liberal magazines,31 and
organs devoted to intercultural relations32make
use of the term. One writer was so aware of the
general understanding of the phrase that he used it
as the title of one of his works.33
The field of law has incorporated the concept in
its writings; and legal scholars, writing on various
phases of civil rights especially, employ the term
"Jim Crow," as Konvitz, Mangum, Carr, Ming,
and Stephenson demonstrate.34 Several legal
digests refer to the concept, particularly as it
applies to railroad cars set aside specifically for the
20Buell, G. Gallagher,Colorand Conscience(New
York:Harper& Brothers,1946),pp. 97, 107, 131.
21 JimCrow,Life of Jim Crowas WrittenBy Himself
(Philadelphia,1837).
22W. E. B. DuBois, Duskof Dawn (New York:Harcourt,Brace& Company,1940),pp. 55, 72, 236, 254.
23 The NegroHandbook:
1946-1947, edited by Florence Murray (New York: A. A. Wyn, 1947), p. 36;
NegroYearBook,1947, editedby J. P. Guzman(Tuskegee, Alabama:TuskegeeInstitute, 1947), p. 353.
W. Gregory,The Menace of Colour(London:
24J.
SeeleyService& Company,1925),pp. 52-56.
1"LouisAdamic, A Nation of Nations (New York:
Harper& Brothers),1945, p. 221; Edwin R. Embree,
BrownAmericans(New York:The VikingPress, 1943),
pp. 163, 173, 196; Robert Weaver, The Negro Ghetto
(New York:Harcourt,Brace& Company,1948),p. 63;
W. Stegnerand the Editorsof Look,OneNation (Boston: HoughtonMifflinCompany,1945), chap. 9, pp.
197 ff; Scott Nearing,BlackAmerica(New York:The
VanguardPress, 1929), p. 172; Paul Lewinson,Race,
Classand Party (New York: OxfordUniversityPress,
1932),p. 35; CharlesS. Johnson,TheNegroin American
(NewYork:HenryHolt &Company,1930),
Civilization
p. 361; Ray StannardBaker,Followingthe ColorLine
(New York:Doubleday,Page & Company,1908), pp.
30, 112, 219, 305; B. Schrieke,Alien Americans(New
York:TheVikingPress,1936),p. 146;L. H. Hammond,
of SouthernLife
In Blackand White:An Interpretation
(New York: FlemingH. Revell Company,1914), pp.
71-72; John L. Hill, The Negro: National Asset or
Liability(New York: LiteraryAssociatesInc., 1930),
pp. 226, 228.
26Memorandium,
November 10, 1943, Secretaryof
the Army. Reportby BrigadierGeneralB. 0. Davis
to the WarDepartmenton conditionof Negro soldiers
in U. S. camps.
27 TheNew YorkWorld-Telegram,
January12, 1948,
YorkSun, January 21, 1948, "FiremenDon't Want
Jim Crow Union;" The WashingtonPost, January20,1948, "Jim CrowLaw SchoolUnacceptable;"PM of
New York City, June 10, 1948,"The Senatorsand Jim
Crow (an editorialby Max Lerner);The New York
Daily News, May 4, 1948, "HighestCourtRejectsJim
CrowRealty Ban;"BirminghamWorld,April30, 1948,
"Dr. B. E. Mays AmongGroupin Protestof ArmyJim
Crow;"TheNorfolkJournaland Gtide, April 17, 1948,
"Jim CrowRelented;"The ChicagoDefender,May 29,
1948, "No Comment on Jim Crow Army Charge:
Royall."
28 May 27, 1948. See articleheadlined,"Draft Bill
Faces New Hurdleas Civil Rights RiderLooms,"p. 1.
Journalof NegroHis29 Journalof NegroEducation,
tory,TheAnnals.
30Collier's,The SaturdayEveningPost, Liberty,The
New York Times Magazine (publishedon Sunday),
Ebony, Our World,Negro Digest, and for its use in
earlier years in such magazines consult Putnam's
Monthly,V. (January,1853).
31TheNation, TheNew Republic,Susrvey
Graphic.
32CommonGround,Phylon.
33Earl Conrad,Jim CrowAmerica(New York:Duell,
Sloan,and Pearce,1947).
34 MiltonR. Konvitz,TheAlien andAsiaticin American Law (Ithaca,New York: CornellUniversityPress,
1947),pp. 15, 20; Milton R. Konvitz, TheConstitution
and Civil Rights (New York: Columbia University
Press,1947),pp. 23, 136f,138;CharlesS. Mangum,The
Legal Status of the Negro (ChapelHill: Universityof
North CarolinaPress, 1940), pp. 182, 214; Robert K.
Carr, FederalProtectionof Civil Rights (Ithaca, New
York: CornellUniversityPress, 1947), p. 15; William
R. Ming, Jr., An Appealto theWorld,(editedby W. E.
B. DuBois) (New York: National Associationfor the
Advancementof ColoredPeople, 1947). See chap.IV,
"The PresentLegal and SocialStatus of the American
... . decide whether restrictive covenants, the Jim
Crowagreementsin residentialhousing. . . "; TheNew Negro,"p. 51; G. T. Stephenson,Race Distinctionsin
YorkPost and theHomeNews, May 4, 1948, "Liberals AmericanLaw (New York: D. Appleton& Company,
Hail New Era in Jim Crow Realty Ban;" The New 1910),p. 208.
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48
SOCIAL FORCES
use of Negro Americans.35 The term has most
recently received national importance through its
inclusion in the report of President Truman's committee on civil rights.36
Even this brief examination demonstrates that
wherever the term is used it commonly applies to
the social position of the Negro in American
society. "Jim Crow"as used in a sociological context thus indicates for a specific social group the
Negro's awarenessof his badge of inequality which
he learns through the operation of a "Jim Crow"
concept in his every day living. This pattern of
existence has become so much a part of the nation's social structure that it has become synonymous with the words "segregation" and "discrimination," and at times when "Jim Crow" is indexed
some authors have indexed it as a cross reference
for these terms.37
Considering the importance attached to ethnic
85A. L. R. WordIndexandAnnotations,I, p. 534; 10
American Jurisprudence,p. 1008; X United States Digest
(WordIndex), 1930,p. 216.
36Report of the President's Committee on Civil
Rights, To Secure These Rights (Washington: U. S.
research, which has been well illustrated and
documented in a recent issue of the Review,38 it
would seem to be sociologically significant and
highly worth while that a precise interpretation
and evaluation be made of the concept "Jim Crow."
The increasing significance of this general descriptive term, in the light of sociological analysis
of ethnic groups, and of the Negro in particular, in connection with its use, undoubtedly calls
for its inclusion in the permanent terminology
of the discipline. Even from what has been set
down here its worth as a conceptual tool in clarifying ethnical constructs applying to the Negro is
evident.
Long ago "Jim Crow" should have been given
recognition and a place as a concept in sociology
pertaining to ethnic group relations, along with
such other terms as class, caste, marginal man,
cultural island, Negro, white, and the like. It is
to be hoped that this brief examination will
stimulate further research towards securing additional experiental evidence with which to validify
the acceptance of the term "Jim Crow" as a concept in sociology.
GovernmentPrintingOffice,1947),pp. 59, 89.
37See Carr, Franklin, Gosnell, Myrdal, Powder3' Leonard Bloom, "Concerning Ethnic Research."
maker,and R. A. Warnerin sourcespreviouslycited. American Sociological Review, XIII, 171-182. DiscusConsult index pages of these works under the term sions are by Charles S. Johnson, Edgar T. Thompson,
Ira De A. Reid, R. M. Williams, and A. W. Lind.
"JimCrow."
DISTANCE AND DIRECTION AS VECTORS OF INTERNAL
MIGRATION, I935 TO I940
DANIEL 0. PRICE
Universityof NorthCarolina
AVENSTEIN put it down as one of his fundamental Laws of Migration that "the great
body of our migrants only proceed a short distance."' Many studies indicate that, in general,
this is a true hypothesis. It is frequently taken as
a corollary of this hypothesis that the number of
migrants decreases with the distance of migration.
This, however, is a separate hypothesis and one
that does not follow from the first. The hypothesis
that the majority of migrants move only a short
distance was true in the United States from-1935
to 1940. During this period 59 per cent of the
migrants did not cross state lines, and 79 percent
ended in their original state or in a contiguous
state.2 It does not follow from this, however,
that the number of migrants continues to decrease
with increasing distance of migration.
If the number of migrants decreased with increasing distance of movement, the pattern of
migration from any small area would resemble the
random migration of mosquitoes on a level plain
from a single point of infestation. The number of
1 E. G. Ravenstein, "The Laws of Migration,"
Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, 48 (June 1885),
p. 197.
2 Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940.
Population, Internal Migration, 1935 to 1940. Color and Sex
of Migrants, Table III, p. 4.
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