Slavery has been a part of the world since the beginning of civilization. It was alive in the first city states in Mesopotamia, continuing to present day . Empires have risen on the backs of slave labor over a millennia. Though slavery has changed forms throughout the ages, with names like serf, thrall, and bondsman, one thing has remained the same, one person is the property of another . In America, slavery was a defining aspect of life. It began as indentured servants from Europe, but when the demand for labor increased in the US, people started to rely on the Columbian Exchange for new black slaves . Through slave labor Americans built a nation. But in the coming decades, slavery was an issue that split the nation in half with both sides refusing to give in. Slavery was a common part of life during the early 19th century. There were many in the South who fully supported it. People like John C Calhoun had written, “Never before has the black race of Central Africa, from the dawn of history to the …show more content…
Racist ideas carried over through the years and had a lasting impact on the Black communities. Racial segregation lasted for about 100’s after the Civil War ended. To have their voices heard, hundreds of thousands of African Americans rose up and protested their unfair treatment. Today African Americans still suffer from discrimination. They are being discriminated against by in getting jobs or getting jobs that pay poorly. In a study a “white men with a prison record were more likely to be offered a job than African American men who had a clean record” . Today, many people say they are not racist, but from years of stereotyping many have an implicit bias when it comes to Blacks. Though slavery in America is over, the effects of dehumanizing a race of people are still felt today. Stereotypes and prejudice against African Americans still effect our culture and