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Slavery In My Life

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Slavery In My Life
Slavery was the backbone of imperialism success. African slaves were knowledgeable in farming and had a strong immune system that could fend off European diseases unlike the natives. Starting with the Spanish, the use of African slaves were adopted by many colonies including the British who brought slavery to the New World (Brown and Smallman, 16). The effects of slavery are still prominent. Europeans judging social status by the color of skin created the long-lasting trend of racism within the United States (Brown and Smallman, 17). Racism has spurred the Jim Crow Laws, “Separate but Equal”, protests, lynching, and many other grotesque incidents. It was not until the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that racism died down considerably. However, in being a person of color, racism still affect different aspects of my life. …show more content…
There will not be as many opportunities for me to succeed and the opportunities available are scarce. I was taught that I had to act a certain way around people of a different skin color in order to minimize judgements and show that I was educated. I was also taught how to interact with police if our paths ever crossed. Finally, there are the typical stereotypes such as all African American males know how to play basketball, African Americans can’t get sunburned, or that all African Americans has big lips (my lips are small). Racism is rooted deeply within our psyche because of the detrimental affect slavery has on our

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