To Be Black in North Carolina?

Despite the "separate but equal" provision of Plessy vs. Ferguson, black people typically were constrained to less desirable neighborhoods in each county. With the exception of politics, most black people were not accepted in traditionally "white" jobs. White children would beat up or throw stones at black children just for walking near a light-skinned person. While public schools existed for white students, none existed for black students until 1929, and even then black students would receive old uniforms worn by white students and old textbooks already marked up, while the white schools bought new sports equipment and textbooks. A black man who even dared to look at a white woman risked being arrested, beaten, or even hanged.

In North Carolina, hundreds of blacks were tortured, mutilated or killed by members of the Ku Klux Klan. Despite the voting rights given to them by the 15th Amendment to the US Constitution, many blacks were kept from exercising those privileges or killed because they voted.

Despite the dangers and the ill-will between the races, black families developed their own communities, and black businessmen began their own business communities, many quite successful. In addition, many blacks had a sense of closeness and caring from the others in their community. The Delaney sisters remember one such example:

"Papa would drag us all the way to Mr. Jones's store to buy groceries, since Mr. Jones was a Negro. It not only was inconvenient to shop at Mr. Jones's, it was more expensive. We used to complain about it, because we passed the A&P on the way. We would say, 'Papa, why can't we just shop at the A&P?' And Papa would say, 'Mr. Jones needs our money to live on, and the A&P does not. We are buying our economic freedom.' So Papa put his money where his mouth was. Papa really had that good old American spirit. He believed in individuality, but at the same time, he was dedicated to the community." (excerpted from Having Our Say)

Plessy vs. Ferguson was finally overturned in 1954, when the decision of Brown vs. the Board of Education outlawed the separation of races in public schools. This decision paved the way for other court decisions ruling segregation unconstitutional and for the Civil Rights Movement to demand that those decisions be enforced.