Ethnic Groups and Discrimination

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Recommended: Martin Luther King's Contribution

Ethnic Groups and Discrimination

According to the teaching of a young age my ancestry is of English descent. The surname Aycock comes from Anglo-Saxon origin. I was told by my grandmother that the original spelling of the family surname is Heycock. The earliest immigrants of my bloodline came from England aboard ships in the year 1682. Leaving England behind for economic, religious, and political reasons my ancestors set out to find new hope (V. Aycock, personal communication, 1976). Therefore, I am of the belief that my ethnic group both immigrated to and colonized the United States of America.

The English paved the way for immigration for most of the other ethnic groups. The United States came to be by the English developing colonies. Jamestown, founded in 1607, was the original English settlement. Tough times were had in the beginning of Jamestown. Famine and disease took many of the settlers. By June 1612 the first tobacco began being grown on farms. That same year brought the introduction of slavery to the original 13 colonies (Oracle Education Foundation, 2008). English descent does not make me condone the actions of the colonists in any sort of way. Not only those brought in from Africa but the Native Americans who were already here endured the same torture as slaves.

I believe these actions had a strong influence on the prejudice, segregation, and racism in the United States of America. It is evident that by these early actions of the colonists that this way of thinking would be accepted up until President Lincoln abolished slavery in 1865. Even after the abolishment of slavery prejudice, racism, and segregation became more evident and violent toward minorities. Today every ethnic background is responsible for som...

... middle of paper ...

...nd not just the privileged few. I do not believe it is the year 2010 and I am writing an essay about concerning discrimination today. In my mind this should be a history paper about actions that happened a long time ago and are no longer present in today’s world. According to Corporation for National and Community Service (2010), "Life's most persistent and urgent question is: what are you doing for others?” (How did you answer Dr. King's question?).

References

Corporation for National and Community Service. (2010). Martin Luther King, Jr. . Retrieved from http://www.mlkday.gov/

Office of Equal Opportunity & Diversity. (2002). A Brief History Of Affirmative Action. Retrieved from http://www.oeod.uci.edu/aa.html

Oracle Education Foundation. (2008). Immigration The Journey To America. Retrieved from http://library.thinkquest.org/20619/English.html

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