In Africa, black people lived together in tribes with the families staying together in the village and leading a life with strong morals and rites. Each tribe had developed a culture and often an own language, and the people either prayed to their own Gods or followed the teachings of the Koran.
But in the eyes of most Europeans, all Africans were ignorant, pagan savages who needed to be introduced to Christianity and Western civilisation. When America was discovered in 1492, Europeans soon realised that Africans were more able to work in the hot sun than Native Americans and were also easier to identify as slaves than white prisoners because of their skin-colour. Slave trade quickly became a common business. About 7 million Africans survived the "holocaust Atlantic slave-trade". About 50 % of the kidnapped Africans died during the journey.
The first Africans were brought to the USA in 1619.
Sign for "colored" waiting room at a Greyhound bus...
Ku Klux Klan members and a burning cross, Denver, ...
Open-air Initiation of K.K.K. under the Light of t...Africans were kidnapped treated like animals or even worse, and brought to the USA in chains. This "promised land" gave them a life in slavery and fear of torture and whippings. In the US, Blacks were a minority, making 10 to 20 % of the population.
While Whites looked back proudly on their achievements in history and culture, Blacks were denied their identity. Instead, Whites created an image of Africa that was one of a jungle full of ignorant savages, living together in uncivilised tribes. Blacks finally accepted this picture and rejected their origin and built up feelings of shame and self-hatred. They lived in a world where, even their religion told them that everything white was good whereas everything black was bad or evil.
The organisation that promised, "all men are created equal" was made only for whites. Slaves were not looked upon as human beings but as objects.