To what degree would mixed family (w/b) been restricted in New Orleans by Jim Crow laws in the mid 1960's?

Question

As pertaining to daily life, shopping, movement through the city, social life

Answer 1

New Orleans is an odd duck and I say that 'lovingly,' The City with the largest number of Africans and Catholics and with its French heritage - - - it was the most mixed race city in all of America and yet as noted in Wikipedia
Louisiana
"Any person who shall rent any part of any such building to a ***** person or a ***** family when such building is already in whole or in part in occupancy by a white person or white family, or vice versa when the building is in occupancy by a ***** person or ***** family, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine of not less than twenty-five ($25.00) nor more than one hundred ($100.00) dollars or be imprisoned not less than 10, or more than 60 days, or both such fine and imprisonment in the discretion of the court."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Crow_laws#Louisiana

A lot of the restrictions would have been 'unwritten,' expected standards of behavior. Legally many of the Jim Crow Laws were judge illegal and stricken from the law books by the late 1960's. It was the unwritten rules which some might argue have never been entirely repealed. And in New Orleans a lot would be determined more by Money than by Race.

Sexism also rears its ugly head, A white male with a 'dusky' bride might find it o-k to rent or buy a house in a certain neighborhood. But a Black male with an alabaster babe? Might actually get lynched. That said quite a few Immigrant Jewish Males who ended up in New Orleans were known to marry black women and it was largely o-k because they lived on the fringe of the black districts, etc and besides being Jews the males were already deemed 'odd.'

A final note - - - can't find the date when the law was rescinded but it was against the law for a white to knowingly marry into another race and in most Southern states a ***** male could be charged with Rape and be Excecuted for Rape if he had sexual relations with a white woman even if she was his wife. Women who 'looked' white actually had to show up in court with papers proving they were 'Mulatto.' In the South having one eigth ***** blood was the usual standard though many wanted a zero tolerance policy! Imagine if DNA testing was possible during the Jim Crow Era.

A quick final answer; frowned upon, most definitely, legally a couple would appear in pubic by the mid sixties in Orleans but if someone complain a complaint could be filed on some charge. That is why there are laws on the books for spitting on sidewalks or peeing behind bushes. A mixed race couple in Orleans would be expected to live in a Black or Mixed Race Neighborhood, their children to attend school in those neighborhoods. They would be gently or not so gently discouraged from public displays of affection.

What is truly scary though is that evem to the end of the 60s perhaps later, New Orleans was a Haven for Negroes compared to the rest of the South.

Peace...

Answer 2

In the 1960's the only places mixed couples could live comfortably were in "unconventional" neighborhoods in major cities. The sixteen states that had anti-miscegenation laws in 1967 when they were declared unconstitutional by the supreme court were: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia.

Answer 3

Back then I dont think you really saw mixed couples in public at all people weren't too friendly when it came to that. the way they treated blacks was enuf now a black man with a white woman oh someones gettin beat down.