Comedian Thomas “Jim Crow” Rice coined the term “Jim Crow” through his derogatory minstrel shows in which he danced and sang offensively toward African Americans while it was covered in black shoe polish. Even though Rice was just trying to entertain his audience, his performances suggested that all African Americans were ignorant useless buffoons. Rice's performances were so derogatory towards African Americans that they removed signs of humanity from them and caused people to become less compassionate towards blacks. As a “system of laws and customs that imposed racial segregation and discrimination on Africans,” Jim Crow laws were ubiquitous in America from the 1860s to the 1960s (Jim Crow Movement). These Jim Crow laws went into effect after the end of the Reconstruction era and limited the social, political, and economic rights of African Americans. Unlike the de jure segregation of Jim Crow laws, the Jim Crow label represented de facto segregation in America: segregation based on customs and practices rather than law. The Jim Crow label is the unwritten but unspoken rules of relationships between African Americans and Caucasians. People who disobeyed customary Jim Crow etiquette risked their lives, property, jobs, and families, regardless of race. Harper Lee portrays Jim Crow Laws and Jim Crow Etiquette in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, through communications between African Americans and Caucasians and accusations towards African Americans to show how Caucasians sought to protect the social hierarchy of post-Reconstruction America. Harper Lee uses communications between African Americans and Caucasians to show the impact of Jim Crow laws and, most importantly, the unwritten but workable Jim Crow etiquette, through the w...... middle of paper ..... de facto segregation. Although Jim Crow laws and the Jim Crow label no longer exist in America, African Americans and other minority groups continue to face social, political, and economic discrimination. Works Cited Davis, Ronald LF Ph. D. “Racial Etiquette: The Racial Customs and Rules of Racial Behavior in Jim Crow America.” The history of Jim Crow. New York Life and the Web. February 15, 2011. “Jim Crow Movement.” American history. ABC-CLIO, 2011. Web. 14 February 2011. Lee, Harper. To kill a thrush. New York: Grand Central Publishing, 1960. Print.Pilgrim, Dr. David. Jim Crow: Museum of Racist Memorabilia. Ferris State University, September 2000. Web. 15 February 2011 .