22. Racial Discrimination in America

Black Africans were first brought as slaves to what was to become the United States in the seventeenth century. Slavery was strongest in the South, where large 1) plantations grew cotton, tobacco. and other crops.Towards the end of the eighteenth century, a growing demand for cotton led to an increase in the demand for slaves in the 2) region. Slavery was less 3) profitable in the North, however, and much of the opposition to slavery came from the northern states. The 4) tension between the North and the South over the issue of slavery led to the Civil War in 1861.

With the 5) victory of the North, slavery was abolished. Discrimination, however, did not end. Black Americans were treated as second class citizens, especially in the South. Dissatisfaction with unfair 6) treatment eventually led to the civil rights protests of the 1950s and 1960s that brought about government action at reducing 7) discrimination.

As a result, African Americans have come a long way in the last fifty years, but they still find themselves at a disadvantage in 8) comparison with Americans of European descent. Only 17 per cent of the black population are able to finish higher education, in contrast to 28 percent of white. 9) Incomes for the average white family were just over $44,000 in 1999. For an average black family, however, the 10) figure was in the region of $25,00. Not one of the chief executive officers of the top 500 companies is black.

Anyway, the civil-fights movement in the U.S. still has a long way to go.