Racism against African Americans
In the context of racism in the United States, racism against African Americans dates back to the colonial era, and it continues to be a persistent issue in American society in the 21st century.
White segregationists (foreground) trying to prevent Black people from swimming at a "White only" beach in St. Augustine, Florida in 1964
Reproduction of a handbill advertising a slave auction in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1769
A photograph of Gordon showing the scars accumulated from whipping during his enslavement
Ashley's Sack, a cloth that recounts a slave sale separating a mother and her daughter. The sack belonged to a nine-year-old girl, Ashley. It was a parting gift from her mother, Rose, after Ashley had been sold. Rose filled the sack with a dress, braid of her hair, pecans, and "my love always".
African Americans, also known as Black Americans or Afro-Americans, are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. African Americans constitute the third largest racial or ethnic group in the U.S. after White Americans and Hispanic and Latino Americans. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of Africans enslaved in the United States.
Slaves processing tobacco in 17th-century Virginia, illustration from 1670
The first slave auction at New Amsterdam in 1655; illustration from 1895 by Howard Pyle
Reproduction of a handbill advertising a slave auction in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1769
Crispus Attucks, the first "martyr" of the American Revolution. He was of Native American and African American descent.
