Segregation in the Post-Reconstruction South

 In 500-1,000 words, discuss why some African Americans believed that their best chances for achieving economic and personal security lay in separating themselves from the post-Reconstruction South. Why did whites demand that segregation be legalized during the 1880s? Was violence used to keep African Americans from leaving the South? How was political violence used to attack African American political power? How did the Southern legal system respond to white violence? What was Frederick Douglass’s opinion about African Americans migrating from the South? Did Southern violence motivate African Americans to create separate communities? What steps were involved in establishing these communities? How did the emergence of a new African American middle class challenge white supremacy? How did white communities respond to the creation of self-supporting African American communities? Use specific communities, individuals and/or families and their circumstances from the documentary as examples to illustrate your discussion.