According to Wynes (1967), the words came from the song ‘Jim Crow’ written by Dartmouth Rice. Rice, from what people say, was a of the Southern United States. The laws allowed racial segregation of the African Americans. Wynes further explains that the whites, especially from Virginia, tried to minimize interactions with the blacks due to poor race relations. That resulted in serious segregation in many places, including the use of railroad cars. In 1900, Virginia state approved a law that saw the blacks and whites use separate cars. The law was widely voted in by the citizens of Virginia. Wynes says that the lawbreakers could be removed from the train if found in the ‘wrong place’. On the other hand, McCarthy (2008), defines a bandwagon as an individual’s support for a cause because of its popularity. The mose is the bandwagon movement according to McCarthy. In Virgina, there were such movements that supported the Jim Crow laws until they became functional after successful voting.

Jim Crow was a term associated with the people from the African race because the artist of the song ‘Jim Crow’ masked himself in black. Similarly, the song was common for the blacks as most of them preferred it. Since there was segregation of the blacks, the State of Virginia passed a law legalizing it, which they termed ‘Jim Crow laws’ because the term was associated with Africans. Due to prevailing circumstances at that time, it was important to pass such laws. That is because there was looming segregation of the blacks by the whites, something that caused a lot of tension in blacks when interacting with the whites. Therefore, it was similarly crucial to design separate railroad cars for the blacks and whites. Such a thing ensured that the blacks would be at peace if they interacted amongst themselves. There was a bandwagon movement for the laws at that moment because the whites didn’t want to interact with the blacks since they felt superior. On the other hand, the blacks felt discriminated and wanted to lead their lives without the whites. Due to those different motives, almost everyone in Virginia, whether black or white voted for the Jim Crow laws before they became functional. It is, therefore, right for people to choose the laws they want whether the same laws promote segregation or not.

References

McCarthy, C. (2008). Why do we say ‘Jump on the Bandwagon’? Retrieved 14 January, 2015. From: http://www.ecenglish.com/learnenglish/lessons/why-do-we-say-jump-bandwagon

Wynes, C. E. (1967). “The Evolution of Jim Crow Laws in Twentieth Century Virginia,” Phylon 28 (1967): 416-425.