African Americans

6 Pages 1424 Words

The cultural differences between whites and blacks are the root of many problems. Most, but not all, blacks in the United States today can trace their roots to West Africa. During the 17th, 18th, and 19th century, many Africans were torn from their family and homes, shipped to America, and sold as slaves. These are the only migrants that came to the U.S. against their will.
Slave owners thought of slaves as not humans, but more like animals, having a lower form of life. The whites did this so that they could justify themselves in “owning” these people. Slave owners wanted to think of themselves as good, moral, religious people and based this animal-like justification on racial differences. Largely these differences were focused on skin color, hair texture, and some other physical attributes. These differences were used as “proof” that blacks were not really people.
These misconceptions mentioned above were the beginning of endless injustices, psychological and social problems, and racism. These problems would continue from generation to generation and plague the black people as well as the white people. It caused a system of inferior housing, schools, health care, jobs, and life in general, and is still visible to this day.
Slavery formally ended in 1863, and unfortunately did not have an effect on racism or discrimination. If it did, it was for the worse. Despite hardships during and after slavery, most blacks made valiant efforts to keep family ties. They produced stable units and kept strong values amongst each other regardless of blood affiliation.
From the start, relationship between blacks and law enforcement officers was negative. Officers’ interaction with blacks was to return them to their owners when escaped, administer harsh punishment when even a petty offense occurred, and enforce specialty laws that restricted blacks from entering certain buildings, going certain places, or engaging in certai...