Jim Crow refers to practices, institutions, or laws that result from or support segregation of blacks from whites. The term came into common use in the 1880's, when racial segregation was made legal in many parts of the Southern United States. The term originally referred to a black character in a popular song composed in the 1830's. Jim Crow laws required the separation of races in many public places. However, most of these laws were declared invalid by several Supreme Court decisions in the 1950's and 1960's and by the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1968. See also Segregation.