The Reformatory: A Novel

The Jim Crow Era, which stretched from 1877 to the 1960s, was a period of institutionalized racism in the United States that manifested through stringent anti-Black legislation and organized domestic terrorism against Black communities in the South. Under the Jim Crow laws, Black Americans were segregated from white Americans in public spaces, upholding the view that they were “separate but equal.” Coined during the 1896 Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferguson, this phrase became a guiding principle for the legitimization of Jim Crow laws. “Separate but equal,” which implied that Black and white Americans had access to the same legal protections, paved the way for state governments to introduce policies that severely limited Black Americans’ civil liberties.

Throughout the early 20th century, segregation made it impossible for Black and white Americans to interact meaningfully in social and commercial contexts. The all-white demographic of the criminal justice system emboldened white people to beat and even kill Black Americans without fear of consequences. Racist organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan reached the peak of their popularity, and horrific violence against Black people became widespread. When Black Americans, particularly men, went about their daily lives, they could be accused of crimes without evidence or targeted for violence if a white person thought that they had violated a social code.