Discrimination is still alive and well in the United States, and once again it is legal. Blacks and other minority groups continue to raise havoc every time they are offended or even remotely feel that they were passed over due to their color, true or not. There is one group that still needs to remain quite because it is taboo for them to say that they are discriminated against. That is the white male. I agree that we once needed a way to allow for better treatment of blacks and women. That time has passed and the time has come for us to rate each other on what we can do and who we are as people, not by the color of our skin or our gender. I would like to give a little history first, to explain what lead to affirmative action.
The Dutch first imported African slaves in 1620, to the English Colony of Jamestown. In 1637, America built its first slave ship, the DESIRE, this was the first of many American ships to be used in the importation of slaves, by then, the English colonies, then later, the United States of America. The American flag was used on ships that transported slaves, even after the first anti-slavery law was passed in Virginia in 1778, and with the gradual abolition of slavery in northern states. This was also at the time that most European countries had already done away with slavery. This was done because no European navy would board a ship that was flying the Stars and Stripes, due to the threat of war from then Secretary of State, John Quincy Adams. This practice continued until one year prior to the end of the War for Southern Independence (Kennedy, Kennedy 62-76).
Once the war was over, the real problems for blacks began, for they only had the illusion of being free. Blacks were not allowed to even move into northern states, remember that these are the people that liberated them, nor were they allowed to vote or testify in court. This left the blacks as second rate citizens, somewhere between a white man and a slave.