Discrimination against African American within the United States has been a recognised problem for decades. Many were forced into sub standard accommodation in areas of cities, which came to be known as the ghettos during the first half of the twentieth century. Within the ghettos the African American community became a segregated underclass. The poverty experienced by the black community was amplified by the discrimination in employment, the better jobs being reserved for the white workers. More recently, during the 70's and 80's, campaigns have been set up end the segregation of the black community. Although the majority of the white communities agreed with the principal of these campaigns, many still have problems with the practical implications. The result is that urban segregation in the United States is still a serious problem. In the early 80's the United States got pretty rich, young people were getting more successful and women were making it in business more than ever before. Changes like this were obviously being picked up on by the art world. New expressionism was beginning to appear and work to do with age, gender and ethnic background was becoming more and more popular. The art world imitated the financial world and started to charge huge prices for the work of big names.
             This meant that only a select few would know who they were. Graffiti was also used as territorial message amongst gangs who want to claim an area as their own. It only really became an art form when people had to develop their tags to stand out from those of the masses. The vandal was becoming an artist. Tags of peoples names were becoming logos. The lettering was played around with so it would become easily recognizable to other writers. After some time color was added and as it was the size or the paintings grew. Style became as important as the words, which continued to grow until such masterpieces filled entire walls or
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