Trump v. Barbara · ¶94

Meanwhile, many States pushed the envelope, passing “Black Laws” (in the pre-War North) and “Black Codes” (in the post-War South), intending to make it difficult for freed Blacks to live and work there. Violence, too, played a significant role in the isolation effort. Those who opposed abolition banded together with those who resented the extra competition in the job market to form marauding mobs, ransacking Black neighborhoods, homes, and stores. And local law enforcement? They did little to help. Before Emancipation, per the federal Fugitive Slave Act, state officers pursued and arrested Blacks suspected of having escaped slavery. Afterwards, the cavalry looked the other way when Black neighborhoods were terrorized by vigilante violence. The Ku Klux Klan would form, and then flourish, starting in 1866.

slip opinion, revised 7/01/26
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