Historians use the term “The Nadir” to describe the period after Reconstruction, roughly from 1877 to 1901, when Black political rights were systematically dismantled across the South through segregation laws, voter suppression, racial terror, and institutional backlash. Although emancipation and constitutional amendments had expanded Black citizenship formally, courts, lawmakers, and local governments weakened those protections over time while maintaining the appearance of l

America tends to treat decline as something that simply happens. Baldwin warned that it’s something the nation moves toward through repeated decisions. “America will destroy itself not because of what Black Americans do but because of what white Americans refuse to do.”