How does Henry Gates Jr. connect his historical narrative to the present day? What parallels does he see between our present political situation and the era of Reconstruction and Redemption?

Readers should explain that Gates sees echoes of Reconstruction and Redemption in the ways in which white supremacist ideology has crept back into our national discourse. In particular he references the murder of nine African Americans in a Charleston, South Carolina Baptist church by white supremacist Dylann Roof, and notes that racial advances made during the presidency of Barack Obama have regressed under the presidency of Donald Trump. This is similar to the ways in which the rights of African Americans were scaled back in the years following Reconstruction.

What were the two primary goals of Reconstruction, and how successful was America in achieving these goals? How are we still struggling with these goals in the present day?