Jim Crow: Racial Discrimination During The 20th Century

Racial discrimination during the 20th century was an immense topic and struggles for colored folk. In the beginning, everyone lived together somewhat “peacefully”, but the passing of the Jim Crow laws changed all of that. Sadie and Bessie Delany were alive during all of the changes during the 20th century. Their more than a hundred years on the Earth is something a lot of people do not get to experience.
Sadie and Bessie Delany grew up in Saint Augustine’s North Carolina. In those days, that was a comfortable place to live in if you were a colored person. Racial mixing between whites and colored was very common in St. Augustine and in history in general. The fact that white people believed that they were superior to colored was baffling. Most people that were white, …show more content…
Sometimes it was hard for other people to determine if Sadie and Bessie and their mother were colored or white. If the sisters were with their mother alone most people assumed that they were white. A white man one day conversed with their mother and picked up Sadie and played with her. Little did he know, when Sadie’s father stepped off the train to greet them, he realized they were colored. Sadie and Bessie growing up were very fun, playful, and sheltered. Their mother and father decided to keep them sheltered from the outside world. They knew that the discrimination between colored, and white people was coming. Their mother and father didn’t want them to be exposed to the hate such a young age.
However, once Jim Crow was passed, everything changed for the sisters. The A&P owner would no longer serve them at the store, they had to go to a more expensive colored grocery store. The sisters were so young at the time they were confused but did not pay that much attention