An Open Letter to Rep. Byron Donalds

Black Lives under Jim Crow

Rep. Byron Donalds stated that “Black families were together during Jim Crow,” implying that Black families were better off during this oppressive period in American history.

Rep. Donalds couldn’t be more wrong.

Black families had to survive under Jim Crow’s segregationist practices. Black men and women were often lynched, their property taken or destroyed, and Blacks were treated as second if not third, class citizens.

Jim Crow was no paradise for Black American families. THE ENSLAVEMENT PERIOD WAS NOT A VOCATIONAL PROGRAM, EITHER!

Jim Crow may not have existed in the northern states, but discrimination and racism were in full effect. In most Southern states, Jim Crow was the law of the land. Black families were separated from white families. Black people had separate facilities such as schools and restaurants. Even drinking fountains were labeled “WHITES ONLY” and “BLACKS/COLORED. NEGRO ONLY.”

Rep. Donalds, Jim Crow was not a utopia for Black people. Our people couldn’t vote. They couldn’t hold central political office. They couldn’t go to the same schools as white people. Black people weren’t allowed in unions and were often denied promotions. If a Black person had a job, they received lower wages than a white person doing…