However, the doctrine of "states' rights," also stemming from the Constitution, encouraged the southern states to believe that they could deal with their Negro residents as they chose, as only slavery had been specifically banned. They began imposing more and more restrictive rules on their Black residents. The Ku Klux Klan formed after the federally managed "Reconstruction" ended. The KKK terrorized Blacks who violated the views of the local Whites regarding how Blacks should behave and conduct themselves.
At the end of the 19th century, in the ruling Plessy vs. Ferguson (p. 133), the Supreme Court ruled that a court ruling could not force equality if one race were inferior to the other, and refused to reverse segregation rules. This ruling justified all sorts of horrific practices, including segregated schools, which were separate but often not equal. Typically these schools did not have libraries, and typically the textbooks were outdated textbooks sent to the Black schools after the White schools had replaced them with newer, more up-to-date ones. It is hard today to understand how the Supreme Court came to its Plessy vs. Ferguson conclusions given the very explicit statements in the 14th Amendment. However, the Court concluded that the 14th Amendment did not require that everyone be treated the same all the time. It allowed local and state authorities to continue to require Blacks to use separate cars on the trains, separate waiting rooms for public transportation, etc. It wasn't until 1954 with the Brown vs. Board of Education ruling that the Supreme Court declared that "separate" was inherently unequal.
What was the state of race relations at the turn of the century?
In spite of the passage of the 15th Amendment guaranteeing the right to vote, African-Americans were routinely blocked from voting by poll taxes, literacy tests given to them but not White voters and outright intimidation (2). "Jim Crow" laws continued to be passed throughout the southern states to reinforce segregation. Blacks had to attend special schools,...
By the early 20th century these laws were fully entrenched and supported by the Supreme Court's Plessy vs. Ferguson ruling. Blacks were not guaranteed free and equal education. The KKK continued to terrorize the Black population, and lynchings were common.
Anticipate what would remain to be done in the 21st century
At the dawn of the 21st century, the idea that all people are inherently equal and that racism is an intolerable trait has become part of our society's values. Racism still occurs, but when it does, people from all sections of society voice objections. At the dawn of the 20th century, racism was viewed as normal and acceptable. Now, it is viewed as unacceptable, and organized racist groups are abhorrent to most people. We can expect that this general view will continue to dominate, although racist incidents will still occur.
We may see continuing complaints about "reverse discrimination." The study by the Urban Institute cited in the text suggests that reverse discrimination doesn't balance out the discrimination that still takes place in hiring practices (p. 131), but this information may not be widely known and may continue to either not be widely known or not widely accepted.
Inequality still infuses our society at every level. As the textbook points out, African-Americans are 50% less likely to receive heart surgery when needed as Caucasians (p. 131), an inequality at the most basic level - who lives, and who dies.
Bibliography
PBS, no date. "Dredd Scott case: The Supreme Court Decision, in Judgment Day. Accessed via the Internet 12/1/04. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4h2933.html
Russell, Thomas D.. 2003. "Slavery Under the Constitution," in American Legal History -- Russell. University of Denver College of Law. Accessed via the Internet 12/1/04. http://www.law.du.edu/russell/lh/alh/docs/slaverycon.html
