Race Relationships in US Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Race Relationships in US - Essay Example This necessitated former confederates and the southern legislatures to pass laws called black codes, which greatly limited African American rights and segregated them from the whites. In 1877, recontruction was ended when Democratic parties reclaimed control of the south, which was very devastating for blacks since all the gains they had made such as forming political parties, voting rights as well as participation as equal entities were reversed. Thus the south, slowly reinstated laws that were racially discriminating and whose agenda was to segregate as well as disenfranchisement. The Democratic Party started stopping African Americans from voting so as to take away the power African Americans had gained. There were several ways to prevent blacks from voting and they included; poll taxes, literacy tests as well as charging of fees at voting booths. Additionally, in 1883, the civil rights case saw the Supreme Court declare that Congress lacked power to stop private acts of prejudice. The police and legal system supported segregation. Thousands of blacks were murdered by the Ku Klux Klan as well as other terrorists groups such as Knights of White Camellia. Thus prominent black land owners, community leaders as well as politicians. The Jim Crow laws entrenched discrimination. This was a system of customs and laws that imposed racial discrimination and segregation throughout the US, particularly in the south, beginning from the late 19th century to the 1960s.These laws did not particularly mention race, however they were written and applied in a manner that prejudiced African Americans. These laws ensured segregation in stores, libraries, entertainment as well as stores. This really fuelled an atmosphere of racial discrimination and there was a rise in rioting, Ku Klux Klan and lynching. Blacks, mostly in south were discriminated against in housing and jobs and frequently deprived of their constitutional