Why is this Black Code? “Freedmen must have written evidence of employment for the coming year each January; if they leave before the end of the contract, they will be forced to forfeit earlier wages and were subject to arrest”

Black codes were restrictive laws designed to limit the freedom of African Americans and ensure their availability as a cheap labor force after slavery was abolished during the Civil War. So Black Codes were an example of segregation back before the civil war began, which means African Americans had more of the hand-me-down items and whites had all the nice and expensive things