Racial and Ethnic Groups.

RACIAL AND ETHNIC GROUPS

But one hundred years later , the Negro still is not free . One hundred years later , the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination . One hundred years later , the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity . One hundred years later , the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land . So we have come here today to

dramatize a shameful condition

- Martin Luther King , Jr , 1963

Above , Martin Luther King , Jr . famously spoke about oppression segregation and discrimination of the black race , and how it began with slavery many years before . Today , we have the Rev . Jesse Jackson and other black leaders still speaking on the same issues . The issue of slavery is still a great influence on the evolution of both black and white America

Racism exists because of slavery , which reaches back to the 1640 's , when people of African descent were enslaved within the U .S . mostly by whites . The slave populations in the U .S . reached 4 million by 1860 Slavery began soon after the Europeans settled in the U .S , and historically ' ended with Abraham Lincoln 's Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 , when all slaves were declared free . However , many believe that slavery has never been completely erased , as it still exists in the forms of racism and discrimination today

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It seems that the word slavery ' has a different meaning today . Blacks are , in a sense , slaves to their history . They continue to fight for equality in America - equality in the workplace , in government , in communities and in schools

Slavery invoked guilt among many white Americans . Guilt over the historical treatment of blacks probably prompted President John F Kennedy 's executive in 1961 instructing federal contractors to take affirmative action ' to ensure all job applicants are treated equally . Kennedy also initiated the creation of the Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity in 1964 following the Civil Rights Act , which was signed into law that same year . This act prohibited employment discrimination by large employers (Adams and Sluss

As recent as February 2007 , the Virginia General Assembly passed House Joint Resolution Number 728 acknowledging the regret of slavery of Africans and Native Americans . The resolution called for the reconciliation among all Virginians , both black and white . With this resolution , Virginia became the only state to acknowledge the regret of slavery , which comes some 147 years after the abolition

The effects of slavery have evolved through the 1940 's , 50 's and 60 's - with segregation in schools , on buses , in neighborhoods , and in the workplace . These problems continued for year . Demonstrations in the form of riots took place , as well as instances of police brutality . The Rosa Parks incident , where Miss Parks was ed to move to the back of a public bus and stand , took place as late...