What does the recollection by John McCoy suggest about the changes in freedom of African Americans following the Civil War?

From his recollections, McCoy remembers the years after the Civil War, describing how there weren't many differences between his life as a freedman and a slave. Even though slavery was abolished, it is observable in the interview that there were few guarantees to exercise liberty, hence being uneducated, dependence on former slavemasters and disinterest on political issues were some of the aspects that led McCoy to conclude that changes weren't that visible.