What was a goal of southern whites in creating black codes?

A. Justifying ideas about race

B. Ensuring a steady source of labor

C. Bringing back the old social order

D. All of the above

"Justifying ideas about race, Ensuring a steady source of labor and Bringing back the old social order" was a goal of southern whites in creating black codes.

Answer: Option D (All of the Above)

Explanation:

The conduct of "Free blacks" kind of African American was governed by Black laws or codes, name given by John S. Reynolds as per historians, the negro leader. White-dominated Southern legislatures adopted this model within two years of post Civil War. They were targeting to capture freedmen's movement and labor as slavery had been replaced by a free system of labor.

The Black Codes was a broad vagrancy law, which permitted local authorities to arrest freedpeople for minor infractions and commit them to involuntary labor with low wages.