Final answer:
Black southerners faced worsening living conditions, increased discrimination through Jim Crow laws, economic challenges as sharecroppers, and were subjected to disenfranchisement and racial violence in the post-Civil War era.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question asks which description accurately represents the lives of black southerners in the decades following the Civil War. During this period, African Americans in the South faced worsening living conditions and increased discrimination. Despite the end of slavery, the implementation of Jim Crow laws led to a systematic deprivation of civil rights and enforced segregation. Economic opportunities were severely limited, with many former slaves becoming sharecroppers trapped in a cycle of debt and poverty. Lynchings and racial violence were rampant, as white supremacy sought to maintain social control. Additionally, black southerners experienced widespread disenfranchisement as voting rights were stripped away through various legal and extra-legal means.