This is Episode 63 – They were known as the “black Codes” . Remember now in the decade that followed the Civil War, Texas was in as much confusion and chaos as it had ever seen in its short history as a state. Not only were Texans faced with political, social, and economic issues that had been caused by the war but the issues that had caused the war in the first place were still around.
It is true, that emancipation freed the slaves and that act actually dramatically altered the labor system that many of the wealthy landowners and economic power brokers had come to rely on. It also forced a new dynamic between the white and Black populations. Not only did these changes have the potential to wreak havoc on the plantation owners’ economic power, but it also threatened both their social and political status.
If we’re being honest if you look around today, you’d swear there are people who want to take us back to those days, people who are still threatened by any and all minorities. Why do I say that, well, it’s because of two things that took place in America after the civil war and actually weren’t undone until the mid-1960s. And even though laws have been passed, the prejudice that existed before the mid-60s still exists today, because today’s boomers were raised and lived under what was known as Black codes and many of them passed their old prejudices down to their children.
So, what were Black Codes? After the war, white southern leaders were in no mood to give their newly freed slaves any rights. Now they couldn’t just re-enslave them, so they did what legislators do, they passed laws that severely restricted the rights of their black citizens. For example, here in Texas the Eleventh Legislature produced a series of laws in 1866 whose sole purpose was to reaffirm the inferior position that slaves and free blacks had held in the south and to regulate black labor.
In Texas, the codes clearly reflected the unwillingness of White Texans to accept blacks as equals and also their fears that freedmen would not work unless coerced. To ensure this happened, the codes were written so that the state was able to continue legal discrimination between whites and blacks. One measure they took, was to amend the 1856 penal code in which they emphasized a definite line between whites and blacks by defining all individuals with one-eighth or more African blood as persons of color, subject to special provisions in the law.
The basic cornerstone of the codes was an "Act to define and declare the rights of persons lately known as Slaves, and Free Persons of Color" passed in 1866. Which some did declare that it was a ‘civil rights’ law, and while this law did give blacks, some basic property rights; for instance, they could make and enforce contracts; sue and be sued; make wills; and lease, hold, or dispose of real and personal property. The state further guaranteed blacks the rights of personal security and liberty and prohibited discrimination against them in criminal law. Some people then, and even some politicians today claim that what they passed was a civil rights bill, but was it?
Actually, no it wasn’t. Why? It specifically left in effect a multitude of legal restrictions that had been passed in earlier bills. For example, blacks were not allowed to vote or hold office, they could not serve on juries. Now they could testify in court, but only if the case involved another black person. Interracial marriage was specifically outlawed. In case, these restrictions weren’t enough to ‘as the saying went’ keep them in their place, other restrictions were added through different laws.
Railroads were required to keep blacks separate from whites and that gave an opportunity to create segregated facilities in almost all public buildings.
What about education, after all it is the cornerstone for a strong society. Texas created an education law that specifically excluded blacks from sharing in the public-school fund.
Well,