Yesterday, we took notes about the end of the war. African Americans had many legal freedoms, including the right to vote given through the Fifteenth Amendment. The response of white people to these freedoms was not positive. The Ku Klux Klan was formed to terrorize African Americans and black and white people were segregated in many situations. The Enforcement Act of 1870 prevented this torture, but the law was hard to enforce, so the Civil Rights Act of 1875 was passed. The act was made to give African Americans equal rights in public places like theaters and restaurants. Some people thought this idea was unconstitutional because the laws paid extra attention to African Americans and set them apart from other people in rights. I think this law would be hard to enforce because so many businesses and people were opposed to the law, and would continue to act against it.
Today, we discussed what it means to be equal. We came up with words like "the same" and "identical." We decided in some situations, equality was crucial, like giving a man and a woman the same opportunity to apply for a job. In other situations, like medical treatments, equality would be unreasonable. In a legal case, Plessy v. Ferguson, the idea of "separate but equal" was challenged. Plessy had tried to act against segregation in train cars, even though the conditions of each car were "equal." The case was lost in all levels of the court. I do not believe in "separate but equal" because there will always be different events and opportunities in different places. If both are "equal," then it should not matter where one person wants to go. This topic brings up many questions over beliefs and morals.
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