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
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/2572458
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 TEACHING AND RESEARCH 45

THE CONCEPT "JIM CROW"

HUGH H. SMYTHE

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

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 clarificationrelates to the associational life of human beings,
of problems. However, in this accumulation of and that its extension into the popular vocabulary
terminology, particularly in sociology, a term of im-
is based upon old linguistic material.
portance is sometimes overlooked and this ap- The earliest public use of "Jim Crow" appears to
have been in 1832, when a song and dance by that
parently has been the case in regard to the concept
"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 rail-
Crow" rightfully belongs as a permanent part of road car set apart for the use of Negroes. The
the language of the discipline. phrase, then, has a somewhat more dignified origin
Although the writer has been interested for some than is ordinarily attributed to it by those who
time in the sociological implications of "Jim Crow" have considered it only as an opprobious compari-
and its concommitants, discrimination and segrega- son of the color of the Negro with that of the crow.4
tion, particularly with reference to Negroes, The term itself has become so inseparably affixed
recently legal proceedings in the District Court ofto the laws separating the races in public places
the United States for the Southern District of New that at least two states, North Carolina and Mary-
York impressed upon him not only the widespreadland, are known to have indexed the laws oln that
use of this term but the sociological unawareness of
subject under "J" in some of their annual compila-
it and the consequent need for "official" sociologi-
tions of statutes.5 The Century Dictionary6 con-
cal recognition of the phrase. In a case involvingtains several definitions of "Jim Crow," and Krapp,
the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Company as in A Comprehensive Guide to Good English,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 thethat it is accepted as a part of stanidard American
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
wvas a common and accepted part of standard
that is distinctive and essential to itself." Many
American English, with a meaning generally under-
a term used in popular parlance, when sociologically
stood and carrying a significant societal connota-
defined, has a meaning all its own, and which it
tion, particularly associated with the separation of
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.
basic agreement that this field relates particularly 4 Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia, I, p. 546.
to the forms and activities of the associational life 5 G. T. Stephenson, Race Distinctions in American
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.
which have emerged in the course of analyzing
George P. Krapp, A Comprehensive Guide to Good
those associational forms and activities. The
English (Chicago, 1927), p. 342.
I Berta Mae Watkins v. Atlantic Coast Line Railroad 8 E. E. Eubank, The Concepts of Sociology (New York:
Company, 42-413 U. S. (1948). Heath, 1932), p. 37.

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 46 SOCIAL FORCES
did not have until sociology gave it a unique con-
tent.
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 American language,
of a specific sociological circumstance or condition.
Sociologically, "Jim Crow" is a concept intel-
ligently 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 accom-
modated.
In substantiation of the above, one has but to
consult the literature of sociology and other dis-
ciplines 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 works on ethnic research in 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 Pow-
dermaker, 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
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concerning Negro youth prepared for 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,16 education,'7 economics,'" history,'9 and
& Brothers, 1948), pp. 190-191, 213-217; Oliver Crom-
well Cox, Caste, Class, and Race (New York: Doubleday
& Company, Inc., 1948), pp. 430, 451-452, 468, 496, 577.
10 Ira 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. John-
son, Growing Up in the Black Belt (Washington, 1941).
11 An 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 Segrega-
tion (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.
13 Rayford 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: Univer-
sity 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.
19 John Hope Franklin, From Slavery to Freedom
(New York: A. A. Knopf. Inc., 1947), p. 338; Herbert
Aptheker, To Be Free (New York: International Pub-
lishers, 1948), p. 124.
 TEACHING AND RESEARCH 47

philosophy.20 As early as 1837 it is found in a the august New York Times.28 Publications other
biographical volume entitled Jim Crow,21 and more than newspapers, such as professional journals,29
recently in an autobiography of W. E. B. DuBois.22 popular magazines,30 liberal magazines,31 and
It is to be found in source books,23 in the writings of organs devoted to intercultural relations32 make
foreign authors,24 in popularized versions of studies use of the term. One writer was so aware of the
on race relations,25 and in official reports of the general understanding of the phrase that he used it
United States Army.26 as the title of one of his works.33
Many of the nation's newspapers, both general The field of law has incorporated the concept in
and specific, recognizing the accepted meaning and its writings; and legal scholars, writing on various
widespread usage of the term "Jim Crow" to de- phases of civil rights especially, employ the term
scribe the proscriptive social practices under which"Jim Crow," as Konvitz, Mangum, Carr, Ming,
the Negro exists in the social milieu of the United
and Stephenson demonstrate.34 Several legal
States, have consistently used it in text material
digests refer to the concept, particularly as it
and in headlining articles;27 and this includes even
applies to railroad cars set aside specifically for the
20Buell, G. Gallagher, Color and Conscience (New
York: Harper & Brothers, 1946), pp. 97, 107, 131. York Sun, January 21, 1948, "Firemen Don't Want
21 JimCrow, Life of Jim Crow as Written By Himself Jim Crow Union;" The Washington Post, January 20,-
(Philadelphia, 1837). 1948, "Jim Crow Law School Unacceptable;" PM of
22W. E. B. DuBois, Dusk of Dawn (New York: Har- New York City, June 10, 1948, "The Senators and Jim
court, Brace & Company, 1940), pp. 55, 72, 236, 254. Crow (an editorial by Max Lerner); The New York
23 The Negro Handbook: 1946-1947, edited by Flor- Daily News, May 4, 1948, "Highest Court Rejects Jim
ence Murray (New York: A. A. Wyn, 1947), p. 36; Crow Realty Ban;" Birmingham World, April 30, 1948,
Negro Year Book, 1947, edited by J. P. Guzman (Tuske-"Dr. B. E. Mays Among Group in Protest of Army Jim
gee, Alabama: Tuskegee Institute, 1947), p. 353. Crow;" The Norfolk Journal and Gtide, April 17, 1948,
24J. W. Gregory, The Menace of Colour (London: "Jim Crow Relented;" The Chicago Defender, May 29,
Seeley Service & Company, 1925), pp. 52-56. 1948, "No Comment on Jim Crow Army Charge:
1"Louis Adamic, A Nation of Nations (New York: Royall."
Harper & Brothers), 1945, p. 221; Edwin R. Embree, 28 May 27, 1948. See article headlined, "Draft Bill
Brown Americans (New York: The Viking Press, 1943), Faces New Hurdle as Civil Rights Rider Looms," p. 1.
pp. 163, 173, 196; Robert Weaver, The Negro Ghetto 29 Journal of Negro Education, Journal of Negro His-
(New York: Harcourt, Brace & Company, 1948), p. 63; tory, The Annals.
W. Stegner and the Editors of Look, One Nation (Bos- 30 Collier's, The Saturday Evening Post, Liberty, The
ton: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1945), chap. 9, pp. New York Times Magazine (published on Sunday),
197 ff; Scott Nearing, Black America (New York: TheEbony, Our World, Negro Digest, and for its use in
Vanguard Press, 1929), p. 172; Paul Lewinson, Race, earlier years in such magazines consult Putnam's
Class and Party (New York: Oxford University Press,Monthly, V. (January, 1853).
1932), p. 35; Charles S. Johnson, The Negro in American 31 The Nation, The New Republic, Susrvey Graphic.
Civilization (New York: Henry Holt & Company, 1930), 32Common Ground, Phylon.
p. 361; Ray Stannard Baker, Following the Color Line 33 Earl Conrad, Jim Crow America (New York: Duell,
(New York: Doubleday, Page & Company, 1908), pp. Sloan, and Pearce, 1947).
30, 112, 219, 305; B. Schrieke, Alien Americans (New 34 Milton R. Konvitz, The Alien and Asiatic in Ameri-
York: The Viking Press, 1936), p. 146; L. H. Hammond, can Law (Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press,
In Black and White: An Interpretation of Southern Life 1947), pp. 15, 20; Milton R. Konvitz, The Constitution
(New York: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1914), pp. and Civil Rights (New York: Columbia University
71-72; John L. Hill, The Negro: National Asset or Press, 1947), pp. 23, 136f, 138; Charles S. Mangum, The
Legal Status of the Negro (Chapel Hill: University of
Liability (New York: Literary Associates Inc., 1930),
pp. 226, 228. North Carolina Press, 1940), pp. 182, 214; Robert K.
26 Memorandium, November 10, 1943, Secretary Carr,of Federal Protection of Civil Rights (Ithaca, New
the Army. Report by Brigadier General B. 0. DavisYork: Cornell University Press, 1947), p. 15; William
R. Ming, Jr., An Appeal to the World, (edited by W. E.
to the War Department on condition of Negro soldiers
in U. S. camps. B. DuBois) (New York: National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People, 1947). See chap. IV,
27 The New York World-Telegram, January 12, 1948,
... . decide whether restrictive covenants, the Jim "The Present Legal and Social Status of the American
Crow agreements in residential housing . . . "; The New Negro," p. 51; G. T. Stephenson, Race Distinctions in
York Post and the Home News, May 4, 1948, "LiberalsAmerican Law (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 com-
mittee 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 con-
text thus indicates for a specific social group the
Negro's awareness of 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 na-
tion's social structure that it has become synony-
mous with the words "segregation" and "discrim-
ination," 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
85 A. L. R. Word Index and Annotations, I, p. 534; 10
American Jurisprudence, p. 1008; X United States Digest
(Word Index), 1930, p. 216.
36 Report of the President's Committee on Civil
Rights, To Secure These Rights (Washington: U. S.
Government Printing Office, 1947), pp. 59, 89.
37 See Carr, Franklin, Gosnell, Myrdal, Powder-
maker, and R. A. Warner in sources previously cited.
Consult index pages of these works under the term
"Jim Crow."
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 descrip-
tive term, in the light of sociological analysis
of ethnic groups, and of the Negro in particu-
lar, 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 clarify-
ing 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 addi-
tional experiental evidence with which to validify
the acceptance of the term "Jim Crow" as a con-
cept in sociology.
3' Leonard Bloom, "Concerning Ethnic Research."
American Sociological Review, XIII, 171-182. Discus-
sions are by Charles S. Johnson, Edgar T. Thompson,
Ira De A. Reid, R. M. Williams, and A. W. Lind.

DISTANCE AND DIRECTION AS VECTORS OF INTERNAL

MIGRATION, I935 TO I940

DANIEL 0. PRICE

University of North Carolina

AVENSTEIN put it down as one of his fun- to 1940. During this period 59 per cent of the
damental Laws of Migration that "the great migrants did not cross state lines, and 79 percent
ended in their original state or in a contiguous
body of our migrants only proceed a short dis-
tance."' Many studies indicate that, in general, state.2 It does not follow from this, however,
this is a true hypothesis. It is frequently taken as that the number of migrants continues to decrease
a corollary of this hypothesis that the number of with increasing distance of migration.
migrants decreases with the distance of migration. If the number of migrants decreased with in-
This, however, is a separate hypothesis and one creasing distance of movement, the pattern of
migration from any small area would resemble the
that does not follow from the first. The hypothesis
that the majority of migrants move only a shortrandom migration of mosquitoes on a level plain
distance was true in the United States from- 1935 from a single point of infestation. The number of

1 E. G. Ravenstein, "The Laws of Migration," 2 Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940. Popula-
Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, 48 (June 1885), tion, Internal Migration, 1935 to 1940. Color and Sex
p. 197. of Migrants, Table III, p. 4.

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