What was a significant component of Jim Crow Laws?

The significant component of Jim Crow Laws was the implementation of literacy tests for voting. These tests were used as a means to disenfranchise African American voters and, in some cases, poor white voters. The laws aimed to maintain racial segregation and inequality in the Southern United States after the Reconstruction era. Literacy tests were often designed to be confusing or difficult, and they were applied subjectively, as white registrars had the discretion to determine who could vote. This tactic was part of a broader system of systemic racism that enforced segregation and suppressed African American civil rights.

The other options listed reflect concepts that run contrary to the spirit of Jim Crow Laws. For example, mandatory integration in schools and provisions for equal access to public facilities were not components of Jim Crow Laws; rather, these laws enforced segregation in education and public spaces. Legal recognition of interracial marriage was also not aligned with Jim Crow Laws, as such unions were often prohibited by state laws during that period. Therefore, literacy tests for voting stand out as a prominent feature of the unjust legal framework established by Jim Crow.