More than any other history of race relations in America, the struggle between white and black Americans is by the far the most complex and long standing. Beginning with first contact between white Europeans and Africans during the English colonial period, Africans were immediately labeled with terms including savage and heathen. Later with the institution of chattel slavery in America certain ideas of what the black man's role in society became widely known and accepted. Characters such as the Coon, the Sambo, the Mammy, and the Buck, became popularized particularly after slavery was abolished. Although they are gross caricatures, these representations and images left lasting impressions which effects can be seen even in contemporary culture today. Furthermore, these particular representations have deep seated roots that can be traced back to slavery and even further to the first white European and African encounter.
It is important to address the notion that at first contact, the English did not prejudge the African as English slaves but rather met the Africans merely as another sort of men (Jordan 4). However the marked differences between the two cultures inevitably led to ideas of white supremacy and inherent black inferiority. Firstly taken aback by the extreme differences in appearance it was not only the facial features that bewildered them but more importantly the color of skin. Often the Africans were compared to animals (particularly the ape), and the devil which immediately demonized them and justified black inferiority. This inferiority was inherent in the Africans being un-Christian, extremely libidinous and "brutish" or "bestial" (Jordan 28). .
With the development of a new world, chattel slavery of the African was based not merely on economic necessity but the paradoxically racist structure of the United States. Even when there was a strong moral opposition to slavery and its spread preceding the Civil War, it did not necessarily conclude with equality for blacks.