Most of us, being United States citizens, would like to believe that everyone in this country is living in conditions of utmost freedom and equality. Although according to the constitution this is true, anyone who has ever been the victim of oppression knows not to take equality for granted. Our society has slowly grown to accept the different types of people that live in our country; it is now a lot less common to see people's rights such as freedom and equality being abused. However, the influences of the past, when the living conditions were far less then equal for many groups of people, can still be witnessed today. A fine example of this could be seen through the way in which housing discrimination led to the colonization of Blacks into their own neighborhoods and communities, which eventually led to the creation of ghettos and gangs.
             Racism, in itself, is a belief that a person holds; it forces another being to be placed at a lower status within one's mind and in the society as a whole. Keeping Blacks and other minorities at a lower level was the principal state of mind for many of the whites during the early part of the twentieth century. This kind of mentality exists in our society till this day among certain groups of people. The cold and harsh manner with which the Blacks were treated takes us all the way back to slavery. Back in those days the majority of this country's population accepted it. The oppressed African Americans eventually began to become more organized and started to fight for the civil rights they deserved as citizens of the United States. Despite the attempts of the Civil Rights Movement, much damage was already done; unfortunately many minds were already tarnished with negative images of what the Black person was and could ever be. In spite of the fact that many Black people were working towards moving up and making a life for themselves, racism continuously kept them from advancing in the ...