what does it mean to be given a right but not the freedom to fully exercise it?

We are now in the twentieth century and slavery has been “eradicated” and the Negros are now known as freed men. However, there is a catch. Remember how in the Declaration of Independence there is an excerpt that says, “we hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal. That they are endowed by certain unalienable rights…liberty life and the pursuit of happiness”? I would like to submit the link to the website containing the excerpt from the Declaration of Independence as exhibit A. http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration_transcript.html So yay the black freed men are recognized as men. But wait what? They don’t get to exercise the rights the declaration of independence provides for all men. Clearly they are declared free, however the whites decided that they still have control over them as if they were pets and their manual book is the black codes. As Mr. Hoffman said once in class, “what do you call a place where you sell enslaved black men?...an auction. What do you call a place where you sell free black men?...a court house”. Clearly there hasn’t been a change. Just because you change the name of something doesn’t mean you changed everything. It’s exactly what large corporations do. When they get sued and have to shut down, instead they change the company name. They are still the same company. So why bother? The answer is to not create another war. Just coat it with what people want to hear, make it look like you edited your rough draft to make the final draft, but really all you did was change a couple sentences. The blacks weren’t treated like free men, and faced discrimination. Although they still reserved the right to live, right? The only freedom they had was to live.