Final answer:
The 15th Amendment aimed to ensure equal voting rights regardless of race, but several practices violated this amendment, such as racially divided train stations, literacy tests for voting, and racially divided public schools.
Step-by-step explanation:
Racial Discrimination and the 15th Amendment
The 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1870, granted African American men the right to vote. However, several practices and policies directly violated this amendment's goal of ensuring voting rights regardless of race.
- Racially divided train stations: Segregated train stations separating people based on race were a direct violation of the 15th amendment, as it denied African Americans their right to equal treatment and access to public facilities.
- Literacy tests in order to vote: The implementation of literacy tests was a tactic used to circumvent the 15th amendment. These tests were designed to be unfair and targeted African Americans, preventing them from exercising their right to vote based on their ability to read and write.
- Racially divided public schools: Segregated public schools, where students were separated based on their race, directly contradicted the principle of equal treatment and access to education, undermining the 15th Amendment.
On the other hand, inter-racial marriage being prohibited does not directly violate the 15th Amendment, as this amendment specifically addresses voting rights and not marital relationships. However, laws prohibiting interracial marriage can be seen as a violation of other civil rights.
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