Dear Friend,

I am writing you in an attempt to educate you on the history of my racial group, African Americans. African Americans did not arrive in America through the traditional ways of immigration, but instead were forced to leave their homeland by African slave traders. African Slave traders sold African Americans to American Southerners to work as slaves on their plantations. During this time, African Americans were held captive, prohibited from learning to read or write, and beaten if they did not obey the rules of their owners. After hundreds of years of being owned by white Americans, the African Americans were finally given their freedom. Unfortunately, after being released from human slavery and bondage, African Americans had to endure many years of poor treatment and discrimination by members of the American public. They were not able to eat in the same restaurants, go to the same schools, or even drink from the same water fountains as white Americans. After the legislation that was enacted forbidding and punishing discriminatory behavior in society, African Americans were finally able to see a light at the end of the tunnel. Although human equality is still a tremendous work in progress in our society today, after years of decrementing struggles and tribulations, the African American is finally treated like equal citizens in society.

The adverse reality that African Americans did not have the equal right and opportunity to live their lives as free men and women, has set a staggering mark in American history. African Americans were bought and sold like cattle and never looked at as humans, but rather property. The laws were designed to benefit the White American and the slave owner and did not recognize the slave as a citizen. Although slavery was made illegal in the Northern regions in 1787, it was not until 1808 before slavery was outlawed and