These were known as the reconstruction amendments. These amendments enabled blacks to not only be free but were suppose to guarantee equal protection and the right to vote. .
Things took a turn when in 1896, Plessy v. Ferguson declared blacks the right to a "separate but equal" legislation. This caused blacks to have to sit in different areas, eat a different restaurants,, and go to different schools that whites. It was not until the 1950's that the civil rights movement began to make changes. The commonly known case that changed history was Brown v. Board of Education. This case ended the trend of segregating public schools. It was also in the 1950"s that Rosa parks refused to move to the back of a bus in Alabama. John F. Kennedy was the first president to use the term affirmative action.(Janda, Berry, Goldman 1999, 529) . As you can see this story is as old as our history. Since then virtually every president has had to deal with the idea of civil rights and affirmative action. It has most recently been in the spotlight because of the concern that it is reverse discrimination.
The current dispute over affirmative action is that it does not help minorities but it hurts them and it hurts the majority. I disagree. In 1991 Diane sawyer with ABC-TV filmed two men, one African American and the other one white, who were matched for age, appearance, education, and other qualities. They were followed for a day by a camera crew. The white man received service in stores while the African American was ignored, or in some cases, watched closely. The white man was offered a lower price and better financing at a car dealership. There were jobs where the African American was turned down, and apartments for rent that he African American man was told they were no longer available. A police car passed the white man while he was walking down the street but it slowed down and took note of the African American, (Horne 1992, 40) The fact of the matter is that discrimination is a reality whether our nation wants to admit it or not.