This disquieting yet important book describes the injustices, humiliations, and brutalities inflicted on African Americans in a racist culture that was created—and protected—by the forces of law and order.

Jim Crow Laws presents the history of the discriminatory laws that segregated people by race in the American South from the end of the Civil War through passage of the 1965 Civil Rights Act. To paint a true picture of these deplorable restrictions, this book provides a detailed analysis of the creation, defense, justification, and fight against the Jim Crow system.

Among...