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y Black Women A. Dire Straits of the Black Men There are 26 million black people in the United States. Many of them are descendants of black slaves who were captured from Africa and sold to America by European colonists hundreds years ago. When it comes to black people’s history, it is not only a history of blood and tears, but also the history of enduring. Since Afro-Americans were sold to America, and they worked for the white people, laboring like horses on the land of the white Americans without any freedom and rights. Their basic rights were totally deprived in about one century, so the blacks were the first people who rose up in revolt and fought for freedom and equality. Eventually, they won their “independence” with their own persevering efforts. The Civil War appeared to have enlightened many Americans and created a truly equal country for everyone. In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation freeing all slaves in the United States. At the end of the Civil Rights Act, the white people had to adjust to desegregation and in some cases, were forced to desegregate. At that time, most of blacks thought that they had became free, however, this was not the end of their plights. It is one hundred years since this decree was signed, however, the life of blacks was still “sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination.” On August 28, 1963, a quarter of a million people of all races came to Washington D. C. to show their support for freedom and justice for all Americans, and for black people in particular. At that demonstration Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his famous speech, widely regarded as the most eloquent statement of the black people’s dreams and aspirations ever made. Dr. King told the world, “I have a dream” that equality would come “to all of God's children.” He said he wanted everyone to be able to “join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, ‘Free at last! Free at last! Thank god almighty, we are free at last!’”(Xu, 2004:311) At present, the black people’s social status has been gradually improved in recent years. For example, Conlin Powel, a black man, got a successful treatment. Just like a coin has two sides, not everyone will have so lucky a chance. Today, although the blacks have got rid of the endured fate, there is still a major problem between the whites and the blacks. That’s racial discrimination. For example, the blacks couldn’t take one bus with the blacks. What is more, the white people don’t rent the houses to the blacks. In politics, blacks account for 13 percent of the American population, but are able to win only 5% of the public posts through election. The fact is that few black people are able to join the police force and even fewer serve as senior police officers. In economy and education, the blacks also make some progresses, but the range is yet small, which doesn’t account for one-third of American population. The rate cannot match with the total population of the blacks. Half of all black men in New York City can’t find a job, while black teenage unemployment stands at 37% nationwide. Many black children are brought up in the same westernized culture but are considered culturally different because of their skin color. And the white children have their own school where the blacks cannot be allowed to study in. Racism, not criminal records, explains the high unemployment rate for Black men. A recent Wall Street Jour