Why did states create their own laws to prevent African Americans from participating as full citizens?

Answer 1

There are a number of factors that contribute to racial hatred and the resulting racial discrimination. Fundamentally, people are selfish, and that selfishness extends to the groups to which they belong; people therefore want to obtain advantages for their own ethnic group (such as European Americans) at the expense of other ethnic groups (such as African Americans, Asian Americans, Native Americans, Mexican Americans, etc.). Added to that is the ugly history of slavery in America. Rather than admit that slavery had been a monstrously immoral practice, many people have tried to convince themselves that it is correct to treat people with darker skin as if they were domestic animals rather than human beings. That way, slave owners, and the culture that they created, have nothing to apologize for. Also it should be noted that even after the legal end of slavery in America, various other ways were found to enslave African Americans, who were often found guilty, by white judges and juries, of imaginary crimes, and who were then sentenced to hard labor, in effect to be used as slaves. It was therefore possible for white people to force black people to work for them without being paid, doing work that white people preferred not to do. This appealed to the selfishness of those who perpetuated racist societies.