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  Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness have historically been denied to certain groups, huh? Denied can be somewhat of a soft word for the terms and conditions of certain groups of Americans.? I believe that these three things never existed in the first place for these groups to achieve and claim. Since I am a descendant of African-Americans, I find that it is in my best interest to speak of my ancestors Now, although I may not have lived in the past to see how some of these groups were treated, what I have read and understood about those trying times were anything but nice. Now, here comes the fun part. Life?? That was the question that English sailors may have asked as they readied themselves for the journey across the world and into uncharted territories. Is there life on that continent?? Yes, there is. Unfortunately, that life, was removed with the force of guns, and complete overpowering. A battle that could be compared to one between mice and men, whereas the Africans in Africa played the rodent-like beings, and the men played, well, the men. Resistance to captivity wasn't seen as a form of bravery to those sailors by the Africans, but as a form of stupidity. Go ahead Superman, be a hero. Life was a farfetched state of being for these Africans. They were more like machines, doing whatever the mass? wanted, and anytime, and anyplace, no matter what. Liberty hadn't been built yet. She wasn't even that much of an idea in France at that time, way before she even arrived in the City of New York. Freedom, for these people was a dream. Being held against your will for over four hundred years, and not even having the opportunity to eat what you would like, sleep when you would like, or do anything on your own terms. For the Africans, it was seen all the time, and periodically, it still exists today. It's almost comedic how Africans were the wronged, and are seen as the wrong. African-Americans were beaten because of the color of their skin in the past, and I can't buy a Gatorade without being looked at harder than a Playmate. Now, I understand that not every white person is bad, just like I know that every black one isn't good. In fact I truly do hope that one day all the races from all of the world can come together as one, because in the end, we are all still related. However, there are a couple of things that separate us, our skin pigmentation, and the pursuit, of not happiness, but George, Abraham, Alexander, Andrew, Ulysses and of course, Benjamin. Some people have longer reaches than others. Still, there have been attempts at equality in the past, such as the 13th Amendment, and the Civil Rights Movement. However, the 13th Amendment was only a strategic, military action taken by Abraham Lincoln to remove power from the Confederate South, and not necessarily free the Africans from the grips of absolute deprivation. The Civil Rights Act with the actions of one Dr. Martin Luther The King was more concrete evidence of a nation moving forward. One millimeter at a time. The right to vote at least gave us some form of a seen trust by the government, which was, and still is mostly controlled by Caucasians. Baby steps.The society of today is still torn in between racism, religion, and what is right and wrong. Blacks, as I see it now, will never be equal to whites on any level, in the eyes of the government of today. Even as I watched ESPN this very morning, to find out that one the best soccer players in the world, a black man, happened to play in Europe, is constantly booed and taunted“at his home crowd. A couple of inches after the Civl Rights Movement, Africans have achieved some success. With the rise of Black entrepreneurs such as Sean Combs, Shawn Carter, Bob Johnson, Russell Simmons, and even blacks in high positions of the US, Government, with the likes of Colin Powell, and Condolezza Rice ( who some still see as a new slave to a new mass), things may be starting to look up after all. The truth of the matter is: black, white, yellow, or purple, not only the U.S., but the world, has to move on. If only the go? Light was something other than green.?
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