What term refers to state laws requiring public facilities to be segregated by race, now unconstitutional?

• A. Jim Crow Laws
• B. Black Codes
• C. Poll Tax
• D. Literacy Tests

Answer: (A)

This item tests understanding of laws that enforced racial separation in public spaces. The term for state laws requiring public facilities to be segregated by race is Jim Crow laws. These laws covered things like schools, transportation, restaurants, and other public venues, and they were ultimately ruled unconstitutional through landmark cases and civil rights legislation in the 1950s and 1960s (beginning with Brown v. Board of Education and followed by the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act). The other options refer to different tools or periods: Black Codes were early post–Civil War laws aimed at limiting African American rights; poll taxes and literacy tests were devices used to suppress Black voting rather than to mandate segregated public facilities.