African Americans In The 17th Century

Throughout the 17th century African American slaves were awfully mistreated and even murdered by white people. They were purchased and considered property of white people who mainly used them as slaves to work for many hours on rice and tobacco plantations. Unfortunately, even after African American slaves were freed from slavery, they still struggled for their civil rights in America because whites continued to deny them of their basic rights. One way whites successfully did this was by segregating African Americans from public places. They were forced to drink from separate drinking fountains and had to give up their seats on buses for white people. Segregation for African Americans occurred in other places as well, including libraries, hospitals,
However, it is difficult African for Americans to enjoy those rights. King states, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,” which emphasizes that inequity harms everyone when human beings allow injustice to occur to some people (King 1). It permits people to think that it is acceptable to act unjustly to some people. For this purpose, African Americans took action to break unjust laws that prohibited them from completely taking part in democracy by organizing and participating in nonviolent protests to demand an end to segregation and gain their civil rights. Eventually, when the Civil Rights Act was signed in 1964 it prohibited segregation from public places, it provided equal employment for every race, and it guaranteed voting rights for African Americans. Although, Blacks have their civil rights today, one of the many issues why they sometimes cannot enjoy those rights is because it is more difficult for them to vote than it is for white people. Maxwell and Root state that “On average, African American voters are required to wait in line for twice as long as white voters,” which indicates that long lines may discourage Blacks from voting (Maxwell and Root 1). Blacks have to wait in lines longer because huge Black communities had fewer early polling places where they could vote (Maxwell and Root 1). This makes voting for whomever they believe
There have been protests and marches to demand an end to racism, but they have not succeeded. The President of the United States, Donald Trump has made racist judgments “of Mexicans as “rapists,” Muslims as “terrorists,” and African Americans as “poor,” which designates that races other than white are considered as a detrimental in America (Mangcu 241). Moreover, the President Trump also wants to create a border wall in Mexico to prevent illegal immigrants from coming into the United States. This contributes to racism because illegal immigrants should have the right to seek for a country where they can find better occupations so that they can live a better life. Furthermore, David Duke, a former Grand Wizard of the Klu Klux Klan, a white supremacist group known as the KKK, made a comment saying that some white people and himself voted for Trump because he said that he was going to take their country back (Meacham and Abrams 241). This shows that racism is still a problem today because there are still white people who believe that other races have taken over their