Introduction
The history of African Americans can be traced back to 1600s. It is thought that the first African American set his foot in the U.S. between 3100-2100 B.C (Schaefer, 2011, p.14).
The number of African American has since grown to over 42 million people according to the latest census report (Schaefer, 2011, p.14). This accounts for about 11% of the U.S. population making it one of the largest minority groups today. Furthermore, this number is projected to rise to over 100 million in the next 40 years due to increased immigration of African American into the United States.
However, Schaefer (2011, p.18) notes that African Americans have faced many challenges ever since their arrival in the U.S. The challenges range from prejudice, discrimination, and racism among others that they have had to overcome during the last centuries. This paper discusses issues of prejudice and discrimination that African Americans have had to overcome over the last decades.
African Americans have had to overcome a number of challenges since they were first brought to the U.S. by Europeans at about 1600s (Laouenan, 2010, p.3). Report indicates that the African Americans were brought into the U.S. as slaves to work in European farms and industries (Schaefer, 2011, p.21). Soon afterwards the white population flourished thereby increasing slavery. The increase in slavery also increased racism in which African Americans were being racially abused and battered by the white Americans.
In fact, slavery was made legal in America in 1641 when the State of Massachusetts passed a law legalizing slavery (Laouenan, 2010, p.3). As slaves, the African Americans were subjected to hard labor in poor working environment. In fact, many African Americans perished because of hard labor they were being subjected to as slaves.
As time progressed, Kain (1968, p.34) reveals that racism flourished in America in which African Americans were racially abused and harassed by the white Americans. This is based on prejudice in which African Americans were perceived to be a primitive populace that does not deserve mixing with the rest of the population.
This was particularly witnessed in the famous Jim Crow era of 1890-1940, which is associated with prejudice against African Americans (Laouenan, 2010, p.11). During this era, several laws were enacted in America that allowed for segregation of public facilities for blacks and whites. In this regard, African Americans were barred from attending schools reserved for their white counterparts (Kain, 1968, p.36).
The same applied to hospitals and transport facilities in which the front seats were a preserve for the whites. In addition, Jim Crow era saw blacks being deprived of voting rights, in addition to being deprived the right to pursue formal education (Laouenan, 2010, p.9). As a result, those who disobeyed these laws were brutally murdered by their white counterparts.
African Americans also faced the challenge of racial discrimination in places of employments in which it was not easy for blacks to find good jobs. Those who were able to get jobs were poorly paid than their white counterparts (Kain, 1968, p.41). In addition, racial discrimination saw African Americans being denied access to decent housing as they were being forced to live in informal settlements.
Despite all these forms of prejudice and discrimination, African Americans have managed to overcome quite a number. This began during the civil war in which African Americans stood to fight against prejudice and discrimination. It also took the effort of African American civil right activists such as Martin Luther King who fought tirelessly against oppression of African Americans (Kain, 1968, p.42). In fact, America can today be seen as a single society without discrimination and prejudice.
Conclusion
It is undeniable that African Americans have faced many challenges in the U.S. ranging from prejudice to racial discrimination. Nevertheless, African Americans have overcome most of these challenges making America one of the best countries to live in and work. This is because many African Americans today hold senior positions in America, something that was not possible in the past. This is also evident from the fact that today America is led by President Barack Obama whose father happened to hail from Kenya in Africa.
References
Kain, J. (1968). Housing segregation, Negro employment, and metropolitan decentralization. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 82 (1), 32-59.
Laouenan, M. (2010). Prejudice and Wage Discrimination against Blacks in the US: Spatial Mismatch at the National Level. GREQAM & Sciences-Po, 10(2), 1-30.
Schaefer, R. T. (2011). Racial and Ethnic Groups (13th edn). New York, NY: Pearson Education, Limited.