Racism

Racism, by definition is ‘the unfair treatment of people who belong to a different race; violent behavior towards them or the belief that some races of people are better than others.’ The United States throughout history has had major issues regarding racism and ethnic discrimination since the colonial era. This was especially true at the turn of the 20th Century, when racial hatred reached a capacity particularly in the inner cities in a way that had not occurred in previous years up till that time. From the 1870's to the 1890's, a new wave of immigration had overwhelmed the United States as never before. Many of these new immigrants were from Europe and Asia. The new arrivals were not welcomed for the most part and as a result many were ridiculed and picked on and beaten up by neighborhood bullies simply because they were part of a different culture and were not understood by most of the local inhabitants, who did not want to understand them and feared change. Racism then was very open and unabashedly blatant especially geared towards Africans Americans and the Chinese groups, where society would take advantage of them and profit off these minority groups.

Racism - African Americans

African Americans were the most hated and despised racial group, being referred to as Negroes, Niggers, or Coons in up to the 20th century. Even though in actuality African Americans were among America's first citizens, they were treated as virtual non-citizens or non-human beings. They were held in captivity against their own free will for over 250 years performing slave task for their white owners to prosper in wealth before they were finally freed from this oppression, lasting from 1619 to 1865 after the Civil War, when the 13th amendment was passed outlawing slavery, making African Americans no stranger to racism and discrimination. Even after the 13th amendment was passed, there was a loophole in the system allowing “hiring out prisoners” which was introduced in order to...