discrimination in voting rights of citizens on the basis of "race, color, or previous condition of servitude."

These amendments were intended to guarantee the freedom of the formerly enslaved and grant certain civil rights to them, and to protect the formerly enslaved and all citizens of the United States from discrimination. However, the promise of these amendments was eroded by state laws and federal court decisions throughout the late 19th century. It was not fully realized until the Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education