Jim Crow laws affected the United States by creating a society where white people and people of color were separated. As America reached a turning point in its history and the Civil War was underway, slavery was abolished and white supremacists created Jim Crow laws in an attempt to keep African Americans as close to their former status as slaves. These laws aimed to control all aspects of life and create a separate society dominated by whites. America was "Jim Crowed" for almost a century and the laws were not successfully fought until 1954, in Brown v. Board of Education, and even then it took several years for society to accept integration. In the 1960s, Jim Crow laws, a racial class structure, dictated the lives of people of color through a series of harsh laws that separated Caucasians from non-Caucasians. Jim Crow degraded people of color to second-class citizenship and therefore made social equality (NPS) impossible for them. These laws legalized segregation, and therefore racism (Ferris). Religion, which played an important role in most people's lives at the time, helped the idea of ​​Jim Crow become widely accepted by white individuals, as several Christian ministers taught sermons proclaiming whites as the “chosen people” (History). Scholars at all levels of education reinforced the belief that blacks were born intellectually and socially inferior to whites. Additionally, pro-segregation politicians often gave lectures explaining that integration would lead to the "miscegenation of the white race" (History). With these ideas proliferating through different social institutions, Jim Crow laws were very effective and lasted a long time. Ji's callous laws...... middle of paper ......wn/history/1-segregated/detail/jim - crow-laws.html>. Copy and paste | Parenthesis Kennedy, Stetson. “Open to all (Whites).” Jim Crow guides the laws, customs, and etiquette of the United States governing the conduct of nonwhites and other minorities as second-class citizens. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2011. 190. Print. Copy and paste | In parentheses “Ku Klux Klan”. History.com. A&E Television Networks, and Web. November 24, 2013. www.history.com/topics/ku-klux-klan>. Copy and paste | Parenthesis Rasmussen, R. Kent. Farewell to Jim Crow: The Rise and Fall of Segregation in America. New York: Facts on File, 1997. Print. Copy and paste | Parenthetically “The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow.” PBS. PBS and Web. November 20, 2013. Jimcrow/stories_events_plessy.html>. Copy and paste | Parenthesis