The Black Community Essay -- American History, Luther King Jr. Malcolm

Introduction Throughout history, blacks have been treated the poorest out of all races. Although everyone under God is to be treated equal, whites thought of themselves as being the superior race. In 1619 a Dutch ship brought 20 slaves to America and it took nearly 240 years for slavery to end in 1865(Ronald, , para. 3).These helpless slaves were taken to America and put to work growing anything from cotton to tobacco. Slaves had absolutely no rights. They were simply property of their â€Å"Massa’.† Being disrespectful to a white man could get a Negro killed and they just accepted the facts of the matter. The south was the most notorious in its treatment of slaves and slaves would run away. It was a big risk, but a slave that made it to a free state without getting caught had the possibility of being free for once. Yet, if a slave were to flee his description would be in an ad in the newspaper and the consequences when he returned would not be delightful. Under constant control, s laves struggled for centuries only to hope for a day when they could be treated as equals rather than always being inferior to the white man. Freed Slaves Some historians believe approximately 50,000 slaves ran away each year between 1830 and 1860(Ronald, , para. 44).This was a major issue in south because the southern slave masters were the most brutal. But, some slaves found it difficult being on their own and either came back or were captured due to advertisements in the newspaper. Most of these runaways wanted to find their families but found it nearly impossible due to slave trading during that time. Women were also unlikely to run away because the men would be the ones trying to escape to find their wives. The Underground Railroad was a series of lo... ...s group in which he found that not all white people are against blacks. On February 21, 1965, three gunmen assassinated Malcolm X in Manhattan New York(Biography of Malcolm X, 2001, para. 11). Conclusion Although we have come a long way in the black community, there are still racial prejudices out there. These prejudices lie in the deep in America in which some whites still hold on to the idea of white supremacy. For example, the noose that was hung in a tree in which African-American students would sit. This happened in a college in Indiana where there is not much racial diversity because of the prejudice there. People throughout America recognize prejudices but now more than ever they are hidden because majority of people are not racist or as racist anymore. Slavery is no longer an issue for blacks; being fully accepted into predominantly white communities is.