Chester J. Wynne

In the following viewpoint Reconstruction scholar Chester J. Wynne argues that the abolition of slavery did not end discrimination against African Americans. According to Wynne, southern legislatures passed laws that limited employment opportunities for blacks. Although many of these laws, known as Black Codes, were eventually invalidated, former slaves found it difficult to fully participate in southern society. For example, white southerners used intimidation, violence, and manipulation of voting laws to ensure that blacks could not procure political power. Wynne concludes that blacks during Reconstruction were forced to live under a caste system.

The end of slavery might have destroyed the social system of the Old South, but it did nothing to eliminate racism. As early as 1865 legislatures in all Southern states except North Carolina enacted Black Codes designed to...