If you know your American history you will understand this was a common occurrence among almost all identifiable groups here in the US, where it took time to gain the respect of the other groups. You can see it with the Germans and Irish after they arrived on scene, a lot of that having to do with a distrust of all things Catholic at the time, later eastern and southern Europeans, the Chinese and Japanese, those of Hispanic heritage... so this unequal footing is something suffered throughout US, probably common to world, history...just to a lesser, often less violent, extent in this country.
Public education was, indeed, a goal of the Republicans at the end of the Civil War...the Freedman's Bureau was set up to give assistance in the way of food, clothing, medical assistance and also to begin educating, setting up schools in the South for all. So there was an effort by the Republican authorities along with the black community to push education that had been limited by the Democrat power structures in the South before and during the war, and then more and more after the war.
Just so you will have some understanding, maybe you might read this PBS American Experience segment... PBS gernerally, certainly, being a source considered trustworthy on your side.
American Experience | Reconstruction: The Second Civil War | Access to Learning | PBS
