African Americans have been oppressed since their first encounter with the white man. For hundreds of years, African Americans served as slaves for American plantation owners. Finally, after the Civil War and the Emancipation Proclamation they were finally free. However this freedom did not guarantee them easy assimilation into American society. Several Civil Rights laws were passed, including that of 1875 which stated, "That all persons within the jurisdiction of the United States shall be entitled to the full and equal enjoyment of the accommodations ... applicable alike to citizens of e…
