In addition, non- Protestant immigrants from Europe, particularly Jews, Poles, Italians, and the Irish were often subjected to xenophobic exclusion and other forms of ethnicity-based discrimination. Hispanics, Middle Eastern and Asian Americans along with Pacific Islanders have also been the victims of discrimination. Native Americans have suffered genocide, forced removals, and massacres, and they continue to face discrimination. Before 1865, most African Americans were enslaved and even afterwards, they have faced severe restrictions on their political, social, and economic freedoms.
Racism against various ethnic or minority groups has existed in the United States since the early colonial era. European Americans have enjoyed advantages in matters of education, immigration, voting rights, citizenship, land acquisition, and criminal procedure. Throughout American history, white Americans have generally enjoyed legally or socially sanctioned privileges and rights, which have been denied to members of various ethnic or minority groups at various times. Racism has been reflected in discriminatory laws, practices, and actions (including violence) at various times in the history of the United States against racial or ethnic groups.
