Oh great... my second blog of the day.  I know I may be overloading whoever reads this with what can be rendered as "useless" information, but I just have to express myself right now, I guess you can say that I am a bit antsy to get this itching thought off my mind.  FWI- I do not mean to insult anybody of African American descent when I say "nigger"... I'm using the term to explain why the term is used.  My good friend Josh Smith (J.Smith) actually brought the fact that I may be a racist (subconsciously) to my attention.  When he told me that, it shocked me to the point where I was tearing drops of compassion and discovery.  So I dug deep, did my research, and can rightfully admit that I am in no way, shape, or form a racist (I may not hang out with "thugs", "triads", and "essays"; but I do hang out with African, Latin, and Asian Americans) with the information that I have at hand to break down a major social issue.
 
Known across America to be considered as a racially vulgar, socially unacceptable, and derogatory term often thrown around with no regard to it's historical origin, the word "nigger" is an entity within a greater National issue. The issue is racism, which is supposed to be extinct but has been lurking beneath the surface for the past decade.  It is known around the world that racism will never cease to exist due to the imposition of rules and regulations by different cultures/religions.  I wish I could address the global issue of racism but I have not gathered enough information to support my argument.  So instead I will, in short, address the American issue of racism.  Going back to the illegal acquisition of slaves during the early 16th century.  Supposedly, the earliest record of slaves being held in what is now the USA was in 1619 when a British pirate ship (the White Lion) captured 20 African (Bantu tribe) men as a result of defeating a Portuguese ship (São João Baptista) en route to Mexico.  The slaves were used for trade for food and supplies to provide for the 4,000 malnourished colonists in Old Point Comfort (Fort Monroe), Virginia.  This led to the legal acquisition of John Casor (the first "slave") in 1654, which set a trend for many other plantation owners to follow.  What used to be a combination of European (Irish, Scots, English, Germans) and African Americans equaling to the indentured servant class gradually turned into pure chattel slavery.   The supposed reason for this change was that African Americans never seemed to prosper after being freed from their due labor (indentured servants would work to cover the cost of migration to colonies) while most caucasian servants would end up owning servants themselves after being freed.  *But what makes you think that African TRIBESMAN had the knowledge necessary to succeed in a colony populated by caucasians?* A group effort brought on by an improving economy, plantations being owned by wealthy caucasian men, and the introduction of chattel slavery targeted African Americans as the underclass.  We then adopted the caste-like partus system which required all children born of slaves to carry on the involuntary tradition...disgusting.  Anyways, this led to underground railroads, Nat Turner's Rebellion, La Amistad seizure, the War of 1812, and the Dred Scott case.  So after years and years of cotton picking amongst other usual plantation tasks, the slaves were developing a strong case for independence.  4 million slaves populated our progressing America in 1860, and that is when they stopped being called slaves, and the word "nigger" was introduced.  The Civil War was brought on by the oh so powerful 16th President Abraham Lincoln, whom I respect dearly. *Did you know that the same coat he was wearing when he was shot by John Wilkes Boothe in Ford Theatre is in the theaters lobby today?  With his blood still on it too!*  He managed to end the permission of slavery in the South by moving the wealthy Confederate southerners off of their plantations.  His assassination brought on the election of Andrew Johnson, who was a semi-anti-Confederate (he resented the wealthy plantation owners because of his humble/poor childhood).  Everything looked good on paper when he was elected, but it quickly went sideways when those wealthy plantation owners, who were moved from their properties, came back demanding the rights to their property.  This act left the African Americans with two options, they leave the parts of the South affected by their return or they work on the plantations again to guarantee a place to live and eat.  The trade off was horrible and left a large majority of Africans confused and disheveled, once again.  The 13th Amendment to the Constitution (a result of the Union victory) was being questioned.  So the famed Reconstruction seemed impossible at first, but with Federal Freedmen Bureau's established throughout the South to monitor the conditions of the African-American's on plantations.  Although these Bureau's and protection agencies existed to serve the African-American communities, groups like the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) arose as a form of expression for those who were still pro-slavery/racist to those who weren't of Southern-Confederate-American descent or color (white).                                 Leading to the African American Civil Rights Movement which lasted from 1896 to 1968.  1896-1954 was all about Jackie Robinson playing baseball, the formation of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored Peoples (NAACP) fighting for recognition, the "new negro" war veterans, Marcus Garvey and the Universal Negro Improvement Association, the Scottsboro Boys (relation to communism), and the formation of black unions against labor restrictions-- all contributing to a broader Civil Rights Movement.  1954-1968 was when it got serious; silent protests (like Rosa Parks sitting in the back of the bus in Montgomery to Brown vs. The Board of Education claiming that Blacks and Whites studying in seperate schools was/is unconstitutional), freedom rally speeches (from Martin Luther King Jr. evoking a fighting spirit amongst the African Americans), and Black Power movements (led by the Black Panthers who follow Islamic Malcolm X) set the stage for a transition from oppression to expression.  All in all, the African-American's will continue to be oppressed, and because of the slow incline to what is now equal rights for every human in the United States, African-American's haven't had the same luxury of progression/advancement as us white folks.  So if you ever feel like asking why we still consider African-Americans to be minorities (for the most part), why they seem to be overpopulating jails (1 in 15 African-Americans are in jail), why 24% of African Americans are poor (and that is just the government's definition of poor), or why 4% of White college graduates are unemployed while 8% of Black college graduates are suffering from the exact same problem.  Maybe we just have to embrace the fact that we are all humans with the same capabilities, enough with the "white flight" and "blockbusting", enough with the "nigger this" and "I don't trust him that", it is a new age where every human must be acknowledged and given the same opportunity to be respected.  Well it has come time for us to realize that as much as we don't like to think it, we are in fact racist and ignorant, and will be until African-American communities are given the same respect that we are given (meaning that until we understand, we will never progress).  And so I leave you with quotes from two of the greatest leaders to walk this nation's parted ground with hope of future unification:

"I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality.... I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word."  -Martin Luther King, Jr.

"This nation was founded by men of many nations and backgrounds.  It was founded on the principle that all men are created equal and that the rights of everyman are diminished when the rights of one man are threatened." - John F. Kennedy

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/258039/reasons_behind_the_civil_war.html?cat=37