The name "Jim Crow" derives from a
stereotyped
blackface character common in the
minstrel shows of the mid-
1800s. The character was created in
1828 by a white actor, Thomas Dartmouth "Daddy" Rice. Rice, wearing the blackface makeup, would sing the following song:
"Come listen all you gals and boys,
I'm going to sing a little song,
My name is Jim Crow.
Weel about and turn about and do jis so,
Eb'ry time I weel about I jump Jim Crow."
For some reason this act became extremely popular, and by the mid 1830s, Jim Crow had become a popular stock character in many minstrel shows. By mid-century, the name had become a common racial slur against blacks.