jim crow song on ken burns's show last night

[Ruth S. Rothstein]

For those of you watching the Ken Burns show, did you happen to catch
that country blues song in the background about "it's time to kill
Jim Crow"? Does anyone know who was playing?

Thanks.

Ruth

[Steve....@grace.com]

[Steve Hoffman]

The one on last night's episode, which focused on segregation in the U.S.
military during WWII, was performed by Josh White. I believe the tune is
called "Uncle Sam Says" (or something close to that).
Steve Hoffman

[Brian McLean]

better yet, could someone explain Jim Crow at length. I know the name but
not sure of what it refers to exactly.

--
Life's too short to live the Blues.
Brian "SMIRKYFACE" McLean
http://www.netaxs.com/~blmclean/

[Tom Freeland]

Brian McLean wrote:

> better yet, could someone explain Jim Crow at length. I know the name but
> not sure of what it refers to exactly.

it refered originally to a song (and related dance) in white minstrelsy in the 1840s.
A famous minstrel performer took his name from the song and dance. Sometime
just before the civil war, became a noun representing the treatment of black in the
Southern legal system (in other words, I've read, it became the term for that prior
to the civil war and emancipation). In the late 19th century, it became the term for
the system of segregation set in place by law and custom in the south. It was
used in that way through the civil rights era.

Not sure if that counts as explaining it at length. If you want an excellent but
possibly slightly out of date book on the subject, there's C. Vann Woodward's
THE STRANGE CAREER OF JIM CROW.

Tom Freeland

[Dirk Lockard]

From: Brian McLean
Subject: Re: jim crow

> better yet, could someone explain Jim Crow at length. I know the name but
> not sure of what it refers to exactly.
>

Jim Crow wasn't a person. It was a character from minstrel shows. The name was
tacked on to describe laws enacted by most Southern states following the U.S.
Supreme Court's ruling of 1896 in Plessy Vs. Ferguson that "Separate But Equal" was
legitimate and constitutionally legal. It wasn't until 1954 that these laws began
to be overturned, beginning with Brown vs. Topeka, KS Board of Education which
declared segregation in schools to be illegal. Further purging of "Jim Crow" laws
didn't occur until after the U.S. Civil Rights legislation between 1964 and 1968.

Dirk Lockard
www.btrblues.com

[Tom Moore]

According to one of the installments of the Ken Burns JAZZ show, the
original Jim Crow was a man working in a horse stable. He was singing a
song which was "covered" by a minstrel artist who subsequently named the
song after the man--Jim Crow. Eventually, it came to stand for the
(misnamed) concept of "separate but equal" facilities, services, etc., for
blacks and whites in the south.

Tom Moore

[Kenny...@aol.com]

According to the PBS History Of Jazz website the song is "Uncle Sam Says"
recorded in 1941 by Josh White on Bluenote Records. The website at PBS.org
has all the information on the show that you could ever want. Including a
page describing just what the Jim Crow laws where all about. (According to
Ken Burns) They also have a complete discography of all music played on the
show.

Kenny Newell
Rockland, MA