Ostracism in itself is a condition that no human wants to experience, but compounded by disrespect and abuse, it describes the condition of African- Americans before the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments. . The Thirteenth Amendment would have banned slavery; however, white people always found ways to circumvent the law in order to keep black people beneath them. The Fourteenth Amendment granted citizenship to black people, but they were still denied their basic rights. The Fifteenth Amendment granted blacks the right to vote; however, most blacks were unable to vote due to specific obstacles. Jim Crow laws posed an extreme obstacle to the integration of African Americans. Hate groups were another attempt to prevent black people from integrating into society. Although the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments were designed to grant freedom to slaves, their freedom was still denied by specific obstacles. Although the Thirteenth Amendment outlawed slavery, whites maintained their supremacy by finding legal ways to control blacks. Many white Southerners were not supportive of the 13th Amendment, so many Southern states implemented Black Codes, which returned black people to slavery without calling it slavery. In the case of Plessy v. Ferguson of the Supreme Court, the decision was made to legally allow whites to live separate lives from blacks. Because of this decision, white people were expected to act superior to black people. They continued to control black people even though they were considered free. Whites also enjoyed special benefits called “white privileges” that blacks did not enjoy. This caused problems during efforts to integrate whites and people of color. Black people were also heavily discriminated against publicly when it came to the medium of paper and mostly as "farm workers." Although some blacks were successful, whites still targeted them. Rich blacks were the main target of jealous whites (George). Hate groups formed in an attempt to prevent black people from integrating into society. the Ku Klux Klan, used terrorism and hatred towards blacks (George 17-18). The Ku Klux Klan primarily targeted successful blacks. They then killed the blacks because the whites were jealous of the blacks' wealth. hoping to succeed in the South, they therefore moved north (62). Hate groups began using lynching as a means to ensure white supremacy and continue to deny the rights afforded to African Americans. More than 3,000 lynchings were reported in the twenty years following the Supreme Court's decision. in civil rights cases (Telgen 16-17)