Fight Jim Crow Cell.
July 27, 1907
Summary
A group of black protesters sit outside a jail, protesting discrimination in prison accommodations. A council proposes “shattering alleged discrimination in the selection of juries” so there are more black jurors.
Transcription
Fight Jim Crow Cell.
[Washington Post, July, ‘07.]
Protesting against the Jim-crow cells at the Police Court, alleged discrimination in the government departments, and the manner in which Negro women are being sent to the workhouse, a number of colored lawyers, ministers and business men met last night at Trinity Baptist Church and perfected what will be known as the District Branch of the national Equal Rights Council.
The object of the organization, according to its organizers, is to protect the rights of the Negroes of the district. That is to say, the councilmen will exert every possible effort to have colored prisoners entertained in the same cells in which white prisoners are incarcerated. They object to discrimination in the matter of prison accommodations.
The council especially objects to the Jim crow law, no matter whether it applied here in the District or elsewhere. It is insisted there should be no distinction between the races.
Threaten General Boycott.
If the Negro women who are found guilty of offenses by the police judges are not allowed to go free, on the payment of reasonable fines, the council promises to start the boycott in the servant line.
“Some morning when the white people wake up and look about for their servants,” said one of the members last night, “they will be treated to a surprise. They will have to get their own breakfast, for there will be a boycott. The council is organized for a specific purpose. And that purpose is unqualified equal rights. Until they get that right, or sufficient recognition where Jim crow cars are concerned, they will continue to wage a fierce war on the Caucasian race.”
They also declare that to attain their object they intend creating a colored “attorney general” who will be detailed each day to the Police Court to look after the interest of the Negro race. Also the council proposes shattering the alleged discrimination in the selection of juries. It insists there shall be more Negro jurors.
Department Row Discussed.
The recent friction between a white and a colored clerk in the Treasury Department also has commanded the attention of the council. The members object strenuously to the alleged feeling between the two races represented in the departments. There should be complete harmony, the Negroes should be accorded the same courtesy and consideration as the white man, is their contention.
The Jim crow cars should be abolished, they say. The law that created such a condition is a blemish on the Constitution, they aver, and should be repealed.
The council is yet in its infancy, but the members assert they will lose no opportunity to make the influence of the organization felt.
Among those present at the meeting last night were W. Calvin Chase. Rev. J. Anderson Taylor, Thomas L. Jones, and a score or more lawyers, Rev. J. Anderson Taylor was elected president and Rufus Delaney, vice president.
[Washington Post, July, ‘07.]
Protesting against the Jim-crow cells at the Police Court, alleged discrimination in the government departments, and the manner in which Negro women are being sent to the workhouse, a number of colored lawyers, ministers and business men met last night at Trinity Baptist Church and perfected what will be known as the District Branch of the national Equal Rights Council.
The object of the organization, according to its organizers, is to protect the rights of the Negroes of the district. That is to say, the councilmen will exert every possible effort to have colored prisoners entertained in the same cells in which white prisoners are incarcerated. They object to discrimination in the matter of prison accommodations.
The council especially objects to the Jim crow law, no matter whether it applied here in the District or elsewhere. It is insisted there should be no distinction between the races.
Threaten General Boycott.
If the Negro women who are found guilty of offenses by the police judges are not allowed to go free, on the payment of reasonable fines, the council promises to start the boycott in the servant line.
“Some morning when the white people wake up and look about for their servants,” said one of the members last night, “they will be treated to a surprise. They will have to get their own breakfast, for there will be a boycott. The council is organized for a specific purpose. And that purpose is unqualified equal rights. Until they get that right, or sufficient recognition where Jim crow cars are concerned, they will continue to wage a fierce war on the Caucasian race.”
They also declare that to attain their object they intend creating a colored “attorney general” who will be detailed each day to the Police Court to look after the interest of the Negro race. Also the council proposes shattering the alleged discrimination in the selection of juries. It insists there shall be more Negro jurors.
Department Row Discussed.
The recent friction between a white and a colored clerk in the Treasury Department also has commanded the attention of the council. The members object strenuously to the alleged feeling between the two races represented in the departments. There should be complete harmony, the Negroes should be accorded the same courtesy and consideration as the white man, is their contention.
The Jim crow cars should be abolished, they say. The law that created such a condition is a blemish on the Constitution, they aver, and should be repealed.
The council is yet in its infancy, but the members assert they will lose no opportunity to make the influence of the organization felt.
Among those present at the meeting last night were W. Calvin Chase. Rev. J. Anderson Taylor, Thomas L. Jones, and a score or more lawyers, Rev. J. Anderson Taylor was elected president and Rufus Delaney, vice president.
About this article
Source
Location on Page
Upper Right Quadrant
Topic
Contributed By
Benton Camper
Citation
“Fight Jim Crow Cell.,” Black Virginia: The Richmond Planet, 1894-1909, accessed October 9, 2026, https://blackvirginia.richmond.edu/items/show/617.