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African American Discrimination Essay

562 Words3 Pages

The African Americans faced discrimination throughout the South in several different ways. First was social discrimination. The African Americans faced segregation of schools, restrooms, railroad cars, water fountains, and stores. The laws set up for this segregation were called Jim Crow Laws. In Plessy v. Ferguson, the Court ruled segregation as constitutional. The South had areas set up that were only for whites and areas that were only for African Americans. This was because all the services that were provided for both African Americans and whites were considered “equal.” However, we know that the books and school supplies provided for African Americans were far from being equal to the white’s. These supplies were usually torn, battered …show more content…

African Americans faced one of the most frightening organizations in US History, the Ku Klux Klan. The Ku Klux Klan was originally formed as a social club for Confederates but soon turned into a terrorist organization. The KKK was focused on gaining white supremacy back in the South by means of intimidation. The KKK intimidated African Americans into not exercising their new political freedoms like voting. Some African Americans were even lynched. Also, Southern states set up literacy test and poll taxes to keep African Americans from exercising their right to vote. Literacy tests were designed to keep poorly educated African Americans from voting. The poll taxes were designed to target sharecroppers who were very poor and could not afford to pay the poll taxes. Therefore, keeping many African Americans from voting. African Americans were also restricted from their freedom to bear arms. As if that weren’t enough to stop African Americans from exercising their rights, Southern states enacted Grandfather clauses. These clauses were designed to give poorly educated whites the chance to vote even if they didn’t pass the literacy tests or couldn’t afford the poll taxes. The Grandfather Clause stated that anyone’s father or grandfather who had the ability to vote before January 1, 1867, was guaranteed the right to vote. Before 1867, African Americans were still enslaved. This meant that African Americans had no way to possibly vote unless they passed literacy tests and could pay poll

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