What did many southern states use to limit civil rights during reconstruction a) freedom codes b) black codes c) laws from other countries d) federal laws

Black Codes is the apex answer!!

affirmative action refers to the policies that take gender, race, or ethnicity into account in order to promote equal opportunity.

employers subject to title vii are prohibited from taking race or sex into account in any employment decisions. aa is a penalty for having any job group substantially statistically "underutilized" in any race or either sex. the employer must take steps to eliminate the underutilization, then stop, ending its aa efforts

yup! you are correct it is b.