Racism in the United States has been a major issue in the country since before its founding. Historically dominated by a settler society of religiously and ethnically diverse whites, race in the United States as a concept became significant in relation to other groups. Traditionally, racist attitudes in the country have been most onerously applied to Native Americans, African Americans and some "foreign-seeming" immigrant groups and their descendants and or ancestors.
Hundreds of native peoples comprising millions of individuals lived in the territories that would become the United States. During the colonial and independent periods, a long series of Indian Wars were fought with the primary objective of obtaining much of North America as territory of the U.S. Through wars, massacre, the intentional and unintentional spread of disease, forced displacement (such as in the Trail of Tears), restriction of food rights, and the imposition of treaties, land was taken and numerous hardships imposed. Ideologies justifying the context included stereotypes of Native Americans as "merciless Indian savages" (as described in the United States Declaration of Independence) and the quasi-religious doctrine of Manifest Destiny which asserted divine blessing for United States conquest. The most rapid invasion occurred in the California gold rush, the first two years of which saw the deaths of tens of thousands of Indians. Following the 1848 American invasion, Native Californians were enslaved in the new state from statehood in 1850 to 1867.
Once their territories were incorporated into the United States, surviving Native Americans were denied equality before the law and often treated as wards of the state. Further dispossession continued through concession for industries such as oil, mining and timber and through division of land through legislation such as the allotment act. Thousands of American Indians and Alaska Natives were forced to attend a residential school system which sought to reeducate them in white settler American values, culture and economy--to "kill the Indian, [sav[ing] the man."
Military and civil resistance by Native Americans has been a constant feature of American history. So too have a variety of debates around issues of sovereignty, the upholding of treaty provisions, and the civil rights of Native Americans under U.S. law. While formal equality has been legally granted, American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders remain among the most economically disadvantaged groups in the country, and suffer from high levels of alcoholism and suicide.
In colonial America, before slavery became completely based on racial lines, thousands of African slaves served European colonists, alongside other Europeans serving a term of indentured servitude. In some cases for African slaves, a term of service meant freedom and a land grant afterward, but these were never awarded, and few former slaves became landowners this way. In a precursor to the American Revolution, Nathaniel Bacon led a revolt in 1676 against the Governor of Virginia and the system of exploitation he represented: exploitation of poorer colonists by the increasingly wealthy landowners where poorer people, regardless of skin color, fought side by side. However, Bacon died, probably of dysentery; hundreds of participants in the revolt were lured to disarm by a promised amnesty; and the revolt lost steam.
Slaves were primarily used for agricultural labor, notably in the production of cotton and tobacco. Black slavery in the Northeast was less common, usually confined to involuntary domestic servitude. In both regions, only the wealthiest Americans owned slaves. In contrast, poor whites recognized that slavery devalued their own labor. The social rift along color lines soon became ingrained in every aspect of colonial American culture.
Although the Constitution had banned the importation of new African slaves in 1808, the practice of chattel slavery still existed for the next half century. All slaves in only the areas of the Confederate States of America that were not under direct control of the United States government were declared free by the Emancipation Proclamation, which was issued on January 1, 1863 by President Abraham Lincoln. It should be noted that the Emancipation Proclamation did not apply to areas loyal to, or controlled by, the Union, thus the document only freed slaves where the Union still had not regained the legitimacy to do so. Slavery was not actually abolished in the United States until the passage of the 13th Amendment which was declared ratified on December 18, 1865. Despite this, post-emancipation America was not free from racism; discriminatory practices continued in the United States with the existence of Jim Crow laws, educational disparities and widespread criminal acts against people of color.
The new century saw a hardening of institutionalized racism and legal discrimination against citizens of African descent in the United States. Although technically able to vote, poll taxes, acts of terror (often perpetuated by groups such as the Ku Klux Klan, founded in the Reconstruction South), and discriminatory laws such as grandfather clauses kept Black Americans disenfranchised particularly in the South but nationwide following the Hayes election at the end of the Reconstruction era in 1877. In response to de jure racism, protest and lobbyist groups emerged, most notably, the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) in 1909.
This time period is sometimes refereed to as the nadir of American race relations because racism in the United States was worse during this time than at any period before or since. Segregation, racial discrimination, and expressions of white supremacy all increased. So did anti-black violence, including lynchings and race riots.
In addition, racism which had been viewed primarily as a problem in the Southern states, burst onto the national consciousness following the Great Migration, the relocation of millions of African-Americans from their roots in the Southern states to the industrial centers of the North after World War I, particularly in cities such as Boston, Chicago, and New York (Harlem). In northern cities, racial tensions exploded, most violently in Chicago, and lynchings--mob-directed hangings, usually racially motivated--increased dramatically in the 1920s
Prominent African-American politicians, entertainers and activists pushed for civil rights throughout the twentieth century, quite noticeably during the 1930s and 1940s with noted allies including First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, who facilitated singer Marian Anderson's famous 1939 Easter concert when segregated venues would not accommodate her. Ironically, Eleanor Roosevelt did not object in a similarly public way when the District of Columbia, then controlled by her husband and a Democratic Congress, also barred Anderson from performing to an integrated audience at a public high school.
Activists, particularly A. Philip Randolph agitated for civil rights throughout the Great Depression and World War II years, organizing protest marches and seeking government concessions. The efforts of civil rights activists began to bear fruit with the issuance of wartime Executive Order 8802, signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on June 25, 1941 to prohibit racial discrimination in the national defense industry. This was followed by Executive Order 9981 by President Harry S. Truman in July 1948, which banned racial segregation in the American armed forces, and the creation of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights in 1957. The 1950s and 1960s saw the peaking of the American Civil Rights Movement and the desegregation of schools under the 1954 Supreme Court case Brown v. Board and the organizing of widespread protests across the nation under a younger generation of leaders. The pastor and activist Martin Luther King, Jr. was the catalyst for many nonviolent protests in the 1960's which led to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This signified a change in the social acceptance of legislative racism in America and a profound increase in the number of opportunities available for people of color in the United States.
"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character" - Martin Luther King, Jr, "I Have a Dream" speech at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C. (28 August 1963).
In 2005, as 4,000 people in Detroit paid their final respects to civil rights hero Rosa Parks during the four hours of her funeral ceremony on November 2, Fox News devoted 23 minutes of air time to live coverage, there was 108 minutes of coverage on CNN and 100 on MSNBC
Americans of Latin American ancestry (often categorized as "Hispanic") come from a wide variety of racial and ethnic backgrounds; however, Latin Americans have often been viewed as a monolithic group by other Americans. Latinos are often portrayed as passionate, sex symbols or violent in literature, films, television, and music. Furthermore, recent increases in illegal Hispanic immigration, have spurred anti-Latino sentiment, particularly in highly educated areas of the United States that have traditionally had historical conflicts with Mexico. Due to the diversity of backgrounds encountered in the Hispanic population of the United States, racist policies have varied widely. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo granted Mexicans in the territories acquired after the Mexican-American War access to United States citizenship and legal status. Miscegenation laws were rarely applied to Mexican Americans, and intermarriage between Anglos and Latin Americans has been fairly commonplace in the United States Southwest for decades. Most Mexican-Americans were of mestizo ancestry, and in much of the United States, illegal Hispanics have generally been socially excluded from "old white immigrants " of Northern European descent. However, there are exceptions; in southern Louisiana for instance, Latin Americans are regarded as part of the "old white immigrant population." For example, Leander Perez's ancestors were compiled mainly of Islenos people who immigrated to the New Orleans area in the late 1700's, yet Leander had the appearance of and was considered by just about everyone to be a white man. Many Cuban Americans, particularly those from the exile generation that arrived immediately after the Communist takeover of the island, are also largely integrated into American society.
In the Pacific states, racism was primarily directed against the resident Indian and Latino peoples, Asian immigrant, and Black populations. Several immigration laws discriminated against the Asians and at different points the ethnic Chinese or other groups were banned from entering the 'United States'. Nonwhites were prohibited from testifying against whites, a prohibition extended to the Chinese by People v. Hall. The Chinese were generally subject to harder labor on the First Transcontinental Railroad and often performed the more dangerous tasks such as using dynamite to make pathways through the mountains. The San Francisco Vigilance Movement, although ostensibly a response to crime and corruption, also systematically victimized Irish immigrants, and later this was transformed into mob violence against Chinese immigrants. Legal discrimination of Asian minorities was furthered with the passages of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which banned the entrance of virtually all ethnic Chinese immigrants into the United States until 1943. During World War II, the United States created internment camps for Japanese-American citizens in fear that they would be used as spies for the Japanese. This was also done with Italian American populations in the East.
A variety of laws were enacted to prevent African-American migration to the Pacific Northwest. While slavery was criminalized in the Oregon Territory in 1844, a so-called lash law required that all blacks (slave or free) be whipped twice annually was enacted in June of that year. An exclusion law, barring African Americans from entering the territory was passed in 1847, repealed in 1854, and added to the new Oregon state constitution in 1857. While African Americans have been present at some level since 1805, the demographic reverberations of these laws remain today.
The Zoot Suit Riots were vivid incidents of racial violence against Latin-Americans in Los Angeles in 1943. Naval servicemen stationed in a Latin-American neighborhood conflicted with youth in the dense neighborhood. Frequent confrontations between small groups and individuals intensified into several days of rioting. Large mobs of servicemen would enter civilian quarters looking to attack Mexican-American youths wearing zoot suits, a distinctive exaggerated fashion popular among that group. The disturbances continued unchecked by police for several days before the authorities, fearing the mob of servicemen would swell further, banned them from visiting the city on leave.
Anti-Semitism has also played a role in America. During the late 1800s and early 1900s, tens of thousands of Ashkenazi Jews were escaping the pogroms of Eastern Europe. They boarded boats from ports, mainly in Northern Germany, and arrived at Ellis Island, New York.
It is thought by Leo Rosten, in his book, 'The Joys of Yiddish', that as soon as they left the boat, they were subject to racism from the port immigration authorities. The derogatory term 'kike' was adopted when referring to Jews (because they often could not write so they may have signed their immigration papers with circles - or kikel in Yiddish).
From the 1910s, the Southern Jewish communities were attacked by the Ku Klux Klan, who objected to Jewish immigration, and often used 'The Jewish Banker' in their propaganda. In 1915, Texas Born, New York Jew Leo Frank was lynched by the newly re-formed Klan, after being convicted of rape and sentenced to death (his punishment was commuted to life imprisonment), even though there was overwhelming evidence that he was innocent.
The Christian upper classes discriminated against their new compatriots. The prestigious universities made it difficult for academic Jews to get places. Yale university, in 1925, introduced a legacy system which favored children of alumni over Jewish students.
The goings on in Nazi Germany also attracted attention from America. The Jewish Lobbying for intervention in Europe drew opposition from the isolationists, amongst whom was Father Charles Coughlin, a well known radio priest, who was known to be critical of the Jews--believing that they were leading America into the war. He preached in weekly, overtly anti-Semitic sermons and, from 1936, began publication of a newspaper, Social Justice, in which he printed anti-Semitic accusations such as The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.
Racism against Arab Americans has risen proportionately with tensions between the American government and the Arab World. Edward Said recalls how an Ivy League graduating class in 1973 (just weeks after the 1973 Arab-Israeli War) wore Arab dress in racist mockery. Following the September 11th terrorist attacks in the United States, discrimination and racialized violence has markedly increased against Arab-Americans and many other religious and cultural groups. Public opinion polls and think tank observers also note a "backlash" against Muslims and Arabs since 2001, with 34% of Americans reporting recently hearing prejudiced remarks about Islam and 25% assessing themselves as prejudiced towards Arabs. In 2001, an Indian-American Sikh businessman, Balbir Singh Sodhi was shot to death in Mesa, Arizona in a racially-motivated incident, as the victim's turban and beard - required symbols of Sikhism - may have invoked a perceived connection to Osama bin Laden.
In Houston, Texas, political involvement of the Arab, Muslim, and South Asian American community have resulted in the election of a Pakistani American, Masur Javed (M.J.) Khan, to a district seat on the Houston City Council. It seemed that the political climate for Arab, Muslim, and South Asian Americans was impossible; however Khan, a realtor, was commended by former mayor Lee P. Brown for his activism in the Pakistani and Muslim-American community regarding hate crimes against South Asian Americans. Although Khan is currently an incumbent in a city council district (representing 1/9th of the City of Houston since there are nine geographical districts and five at-large council-members), the 2005 election to fill outgoing at-large council-member Gordon Quan led to a Desi candidate, Jay Kumar Aiyer (a Houston Community College trustee of Asian Indian descent), to campaign for Quan's vacated council seat. During the 2005 runoff election with Democratic National Committee delegate Sue Lovell, alleged race-baiting occurred where a Lovell supporter was accused of making anti-Asian Indian remarks, which was denied by the individual in question. Aiyer lost to Lovell by 600 votes in the December 10, 2005 runoff election; because of the Lovell campaign increasing their grassroots base, there are a few in the grassroots community who suggest that Aiyer's endorsement from prominent Houston-area Democrats (including former mayor Lee P. Brown) was no match for grassroots politics in the City of Houston. Although Aiyer lost the runoff election, he was appointed as the current board president of the Houston Community College System in January 2006.
Critics such as Gore Vidal and Noam Chomsky have suggested that racism has played a significant role in US foreign policy in the Middle East and it's treatment of the Arabs. Various critics have suggested that racism along with strategic and financial interests motivated the Bush Administration to attack Iraq eventhough the Baathist regime of Saddam Hussein did not possess weapons of mass destruction nor had any ties to Al Quaida or other terrorist organizations.
Minority racism is sometimes considered controversial because of theories of power in society. Racist thinking among minority groups does occur. Some racism may be towards other minority groups, such as conflicts between blacks and Koreans (notably in the 1992 Los Angeles Riots) or between blacks and Jews (such as the riots in Crown Heights in 1991) in various urban environments, new immigrant groups (such as Latinos) or even towards whites.
There has been a long running racial tension between African-Americans and those of Mexican ancestry. There have been several significant riots in California prisons where Mexican inmates and African-Americans have targeted each other particularly, based on racial reasons. There have been reports of racially motivated attacks against African Americans who have moved into neighborhoods occupied mostly by people of Mexican descent, and vice versa. There has also been cases in which Asian Americans have been victimized for moving into a predominantly white neighboorhood, or for working in a overwhelmingly white workplace. The Aztlan movement has been described as racist. The movement's goal involves the pursuit of repossessing the American southwest. It has also been called the Mexican "reconquista"(re-conquest) whose name was inspired by the Spanish "reconquista" which led to the expulsion of the Moors from Spain
Institutional racism is the theory that aspects of the structure, pervasive attitudes, and established institutions of society disadvantage racial minorities, although not by an overtly discriminatory mechanism. There are several factors that play into institutional racism, including but not limited to: accumulated wealth/benefits from racial groups that have benefited from past discrimination, educational and occupational disadvantages faced by non-native English speakers in the United States, ingrained stereotypical images that still remain in the society (e.g. Black men are likely to be criminals).
The established institutions of society are taking some steps to combat the various claimed structural disadvantages in modern American society, particularly in the case of non-native English speakers or those raised in homes that spoke broken or pidgin English. Several states are attempting to reduce these educational disadvantages by developing a more culturally aware curriculum. For example, the 2005 California 6th grade statewide examination contained the question Patio comes from the Spanish word meaning what?. Including questions such as these provide opportunities for non-native speakers of English to have greater educational access.
All major racial groups have also been the subject of racism in the mass media through advertising campaigns utilizing references to stereotypes, such as "White Men Can't Jump", Coon Chicken Inn, and the Taco Bell chihuahua.
Immigration
Access to United States citizenship was restricted by race, beginning with the Naturalization Act of 1790 which refused naturalization to "non-whites." Other efforts include the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act and the 1924 National Origins Act. While officially prohibited, U.S. officials continue to differentially apply laws on illegal immigration depending on national origin (essentially declining to enforce immigration laws against citizens of rich countries who overstay their visas) and personal economy (differentially awarding visas to foreign nationals based on bank accounts, properties and so on).
Wealth Creation
Some of the institutions of wealth creation amongst American citizens were open exclusively to whites, notably land distributed under the Homestead Act and other settlement efforts in the West. Similar differentials applied to the Social Security Act (which excluded agricultural workers, a sector that then included most black workers), rewards to military officers, and the educational benefits offered returning soldiers after World War II.
Health care inequality
They are major racial differences in access to health care and in the quality of health care provided. A study published in the American Journal of Public Health estimated that: "over 886,000 deaths could have been prevented from 1991 to 2000 if African Americans had received the same care as whites." The key differences they cited were lack of insurance, inadequate insurance, poor service, and reluctance to seek care.A history of government-sponsored experimentation, such as the notorious Tuskegee Syphilis Study has left of legacy of African-American distrust of the medical system.
Fundamentalist, racist, and hate groups still operate in the United States. The Ku Klux Klan, the National Alliance, National Socialist Movement (United States), Aryan Nations, Westboro Baptist Church, Black Hebrew Israelites, Nation of Yahweh and White Order of Thule are among the institutions most commonly identified in this way. The Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Project counted 762 active hate groups in the United States in 2004. SPLC and some other watch groups also list a handful of Black nationalist and Chicano nationalist groups as hate groups.