How Did Slavery Affect Racism Today

From the birth of this free country slavery was enforced and effectively used. President Abraham Lincoln fought to free the slaves and it became what was known as Emancipation Proclamation, however it set a civil war between the north and the south confederate states. When the slaves were set free from their masters it was no different from being a slave. They were treated with no respect or dignity as a human being. Segregation was practiced and the racism and discrimination against African Americans were harsh and cruel. Racism today has a big effect on African Americans likewise in the past. Many African Americans feel like they are being targeted and discriminated which brings back the old days of slavery as if it was the present. Slavery first started in America through the demand for labor on the plantations. Whites during the early colonial times tried to invade and conquer land from the Indians. During this time blacks were kidnapped from Africa and imported into slavery for the whites to maintain dominance. Slaves were discriminated and had been labeled as the Negros. In the “New Jim Crow:Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness” states, “...an uncivilized lesser race, perhaps even more lacking in intelligence and laudable human qualities than the red-skinned natives”(Alexander, 19). Slaves were degraded which is where many still think that African Americans are less equal and an oppressed minority in this country. White supremacy started started from the act of slavery and is prevalent today. Many of the southern states known as the confederate states was not happy at all when they found that President Abraham Lincoln was determined to free the slaves. A Civil War broke out between the northern and southern states because of the idea of freeing the slaves and the racial differences people believed. Then came the new amendment known as the “Thirteenth Amendment” which was abolishing slavery.
After freeing the slaves, the southern confederate