How did freed blacks face discrimination in the southern states?

Freed blacks faced discrimination in the southern states in many ways. After Reconstruction ended, the military left the South. Many whites regained their rights, and they began to reestablish political control in the South. Laws were passed that restricted or eliminated many of the improvements African-Americans gained during Reconstruction.

Laws were passed that legalized segregation. These laws, known as the Jim Crow Laws, created separate drinking fountains, separate bathrooms, separate schools, and separate railroad cars. In the 1900s, these laws also included separate sections on buses and allowed restaurants to only serve whites. In 1896, the Supreme Court, in the case of Plessy v Ferguson, ruled that separate facilities were legal as long as they were equal.

Restrictions were also placed on African-American voting rights. With the creation of poll taxes and literacy tests, many African-Americans weren’t allowed to vote because they couldn’t afford the fee or couldn't pass the literacy test. Whites were exempted from these restrictions by the grandfather clauses that stated a person was exempt from paying the poll tax or passing the literacy test if their grandfather had voted before the Civil War. Most white grandfathers had voted before the Civil War. This wasn’t true for most African-American grandfathers.

These laws and practices discriminated against the freed slaves after Reconstruction ended.