Final answer:
Southern Redeemer governments resisted racial equality and voting rights through repressive voting laws, such as literacy tests and poll taxes, and violence. This oppression lasted until the Civil Rights Movement and federal legislation like the Voting Rights Act of 1965 began to enforce change.
Step-by-step explanation:
How Southern Redeemer Governments Fought Against Racial Equality
In the aftermath of the Civil War, Southern Redeemer governments were primarily controlled by the Democratic Party and were set on resisting any form of racial equality and voting rights for African Americans. They employed a multitude of strategies to undermine the progress made during Reconstruction. One major tactic was the enactment of voting laws such as literacy tests and poll taxes, designed to disenfranchise black voters. Additionally, property qualification laws, gerrymandering, and fraud were used to further decrease black voting levels.
The violence also played a central role, with Klan violence and lynchings used as methods of intimidation and suppression against African Americans asserting their rights. Fear of a race war and reluctance of national leaders to intervene allowed such violence to persist without significant challenge from the federal government. The decline of Southern Populism also meant that black participation in public life dwindled until the mid-twentieth century. This systematic oppression persisted until the Civil Rights Movement catalyzed substantial change with federal interventions such as the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
The quest to restore the antebellum social order often invoked the rhetoric of 'redeeming' the South from 'negro domination' and northern influence. The collective efforts of Redeemer governments not only disenfranchised African Americans but also perpetuated a divisive social structure that adversely affected poor whites and stifled economic progress in the region.