When Black People Try to Make Progress, Backlash Is Quick to Follow

From the article:

"Black Americans are often treated like second-class citizens in a nation they helped to build. Yet, for those unacquainted with the nation's history of racial discrimination, it may be unclear why this racial hierarchy remains intact over a century and a half after the chattel slavery system ended. For every effort Black people took to progress, the backlash was quick to follow. After the Civil War, the Reconstruction era ushered in significant progress for Black Americans, as many Black men won seats for the first time as lawmakers. They "organized Equal Rights Leagues throughout the South and held state and local conventions to protest discriminatory treatment and demand suffrage, as well as equality before the law." However, extremist groups like the Ku Klux Klan terrorized Black communities. They led violent voter suppression efforts, while Southern states controlled by former Confederates and their descendants passed Jim Crow legislation to limit the rights and mobility of Black Americans. The backlash far outpaced the progress Black Americans initially made in the years after the Civil War."