Mike Lee: “After the Civil war and the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments…”

“For centuries before then, when slavery was a thing, African Americans lived in violent oppression and in truly evil system that deprived them of the dignity of being human beings in every way imaginable. After the Civil war and the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments were adopted, Reconstruction began. We were supposed to emerge from that. We were making progress toward racial equality in this country. Until gains made by the Democratic Party in national elections in the 1870s halted reconstruction. And in many ways, that oppression, the same oppression that had kept African Americans in bondage for so long, took on a different form now that slavery was abolished, of course, with the 13th amendment.” (1:45:16–1:45:56)

This is an excerpt from a raw transcript. The assertions have not been audited or verified. Tap the video to view the source footage and understand the context.