Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. The "nadir of American race relations" is a phrase referring to the period in United States history from the end of Reconstruction to the beginning of the 20th Century, when racism was deemed to be worse than in any other post-bellum period. During this period, African Americans lost many civil rights gains made during Reconstruction. Anti-black violence, lynchings, segregation, legal racial discrimination, and expressions of white supremacy increased.