With the end of the Civil War, in the United States of America, in 1865, slavery was abolished. However, the problems generated by the slave system to the American black population had not yet been resolved.
The black population, of African descent, was not integrated into North American society - on the contrary, the ex-slaves did not gain access to land, did not have a good education and much less access to work qualified.
After the abolition of slavery, only white Protestants had access to full citizenship. Blacks, immigrants (Catholics) and the indigenous population were excluded from the process.
The social situation of ex-slaves in the United States, in the 19th century, complicates with the emergence, in the year of 1865, from a racist secret society called the Ku Klux Klan, in the state of Tennessee, in the southern states United.
The mentor and creator of this organization was General Nathan Bedford (1821-1877), who became known as one of the main leaders of the Confederates. The Ku Klux Klan had as its main objective to keep the black population segregated from society.
The main action of the Ku Klux Klan was to defend white supremacy. Thus, the members of this secret society practiced different crimes and acts of violence against the black population. The members of the Ku Klux Klan raped black women and killed black people without any pretext, just out of racism.
After several decades, more precisely in the 1960s, after countless conflicts, deaths and demonstrations, the American black population now has the same civil and political rights as the whites. Racism is still prevalent in the United States of America, but to a lesser extent than that practiced before the 1960s. The Ku Klux Klan still exists and today has around 3,000 members in the southern United States.
Leandro Carvalho
Master in History
Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/guerras/ku-klux-klan-x-populacao-negra.htm
