I find on Reddit after a confederate flag is shown comments are usually about how racist the South was and how progressive the North was during the civil war. But there's never a mention of racism in the North during the time.
Was the North really that progressive? Or was it just as bad as the south minus slavery?
While blacks in the north were free of enslavement, there was still a heavy reliance on classism and racism in most northern states. Although free and able to serve on juries, vote, and obtain a trade job, their rights slowly began to fade, justifying the act of slavery. Blacks were denied of their citizenship—Dred Scott Case—and segregation in some states prevailed. Philadelphia began to deny African Americans entry into various establishments; they were forced to rid of their jobs, and lost the right to vote. In 1807 New Jersey denied blacks voting rights, Connecticut in 1818, and New York in 1821 prohibited voting for blacks without ownership of property. Other states also placed restrictions on African Americans making it hard for them to be full citizens in the north.