Historical Report on Race
Nigel Faison
ETH/125- Cultural Diversity
June 24, 2012
Tiff Archie
Axia College of the University Phoenix
Historical Report on Race
Dear, John Doe
I am writing you this letter to let you know some of the struggles of African Americans throughout history. It is my sincere hope, that this helps you to understand the people of my race better; furthermore, I hope that it answers any questions that you may have had. Since we are friends, I just wanted to give you some insight into my culture. My people were brought to this country in 1619, to work for white people, and by 1661, Virginia had enacted the very first slave law. “By 1776, the year the United States declared its independence from Great Britain, slavery was legal in every state, and African Americans labored as slaves throughout the North as well as the South.” (Social Probelms, Ch.3, p.65). From the beginning, my people were being subjected to a life of servitude. During the slave trade African American families were routinely split up for profit. Can you imagine the effect that this had on the people, to have their families torn apart? African Americans had to do whatever they were told to do by their so called “masters” and if they did not as history tells us, they were whipped, beaten, and even hanged. It was said that “African Americans were not really people.” (Social Problems, Ch.3, p.65). This is how a society that was supposed to be civilized viewed other human beings. Later, after slavery ended, African Americans continued to face prejudice and discrimination in their everyday lives. African Americans were being denied their basic civil rights and institutional discrimination was the norm. African Americans were not allowed to go to school with whites, drink from the same water fountains, stay at the same hotels, eat at the same restaurants, vote, and had to give up their seat to white people on the bus. Proof of