The History of Racial Discrimination in America - Essay Example

Topic: The history of racial discrimination in America goes back to the early 17th century at the time of slavery. America atthat time was a country where only whites were considered proper citizens and blacks along with other races which lived in the region were either kept as slaves or treated worse than animals and simply killed. In those times, a white can easily kill a black man and he would not be punished or even asked as to why he did that. This inhumane treatment of blacks and other races by the whites of America continued for another two to three centuries until the black community of America finally realized and understood their rights and what wrong was being done to them over the past years and they stood up against those crimes against humanity. When we have a look at pages of history, we see blood, we see injustice, we see blacks being treated as something not human and we see a society dominated by whites. It was a time when the contribution of blacks being ignored and the credit of all their labor and work given to the white people. In the eighteenth century, we see a major portion of agricultural land owned by the white community of America and yet they were not the ones to work on those lands and produce food for the nation. They had their slaves work on those lands day and night to grow fruits and vegetables that eventually reached the markets and were bought by rich whites of America. It was the black community of America that worked hard in oil fields in Texas and produced oil for which was a major contributor in America’s economy in those times. Apart from black communities, there were other races in America who faced almost similar treatment at the hands of more dominating whites of America. Japanese community largely migrated to different American states for a better and prosperous future. They were allowed to own properties and start their own business in America. This contributed a lot to the American work force and economy but, eventually all was taken away from them with the start of World War and the Japanese community was forced to move in concentration camps. Also, looking at other Asian communities that have moved in different states of America in past few decades, we get to see that racial differences have been quiet prevalent everywhere we get a look at. Most of the Asians who moved were not given posts they deserved instead forced to work as labors and work hard at places no American would prefer to work in. Racial discrimination has been an important issue in America since its existence. The industrial revolution in USA just proves to be another example of such discrimination. In the eighteenth century, America saw a boost in its economy because foreign investments were rolling in rapidly and new industries were being built. This led the American economy fly high and but again apart from the dominating white community, no other race was given the benefits of such a boost and rather deprived of even the necessities of life. We see Asians and Blacks being the main work force and labor working day and night to build those factories and then keep them running so that America could prosper and yet they were deprived of their rights of liberty and education. This was considered to be the part of a greater plan according to which no other community should be allowed to progress and become equal to the White race in America. Women of America also worked in factories and worked with other races to build up the economy of America. They were also the ones deprived of their rights and treated like lower beings. It was not until the late 19th century when women understood their rights and stood up to get what they deserved. Women were deprived of education and their rights of expression but according to them, women could help much better in building the economy of America if they were allowed to get education. Women understood their rights, fought for them and eventually contributed a lot to their country’s economy. Even today when we observe racial discrimination in America, we get to see that this discrimination is in every field of American life. Barrack Obama being the first Afro-American president of the country promised to bring change in the country but so far has failed to do so. The promise of justice and equality for all the races has been forgotten but racial discrimination increased. We see all major governmental and military positions occupied by White community of America and Blacks working under them. Asian and Africans in America contribute more than 30% to the tax revenue and still they are not given what they deserve. It has been observed that majority of executive and managerial position in both public and private sector are occupied by Whites and Blacks being deprived of their basic rights occupy majority of prison cells in America. Today when we think of it, Blacks, Asian, Africans and other races in America have contributed a lot to America’s economy in a way White community would not have been able to. Women in America, Other races contribute to tax revenues, bring in foreign investments and provide a major part of man power in America but their deprivation from basic necessities, their basic rights and discrimination at work even when some of them deserve to be at the top of some fields has led to several violent clashes such as the slavery movement. America is a blessed country in a way that it has both cultural and racial diversity. Even given equality and justice, America could prosper and progress in a much better way than it is now. Racial discrimination in all the fields of life, Killings of minorities and people of other religions should be stopped so that America could be a better place for people of all ethnicities. Read More