with the long history of slavery in the united states, racism has always been an issue. the enslavement of millions of africans along with the huge influx of immigrants throughout its history has allowed great diversity, but has created racial segregation. with the abolition of slavery, different forms of segregation were implemented, including jim crow laws and the later american political structures which invited extreme segregation within cities and the suburbanization of the white working and middle class. as overt and obvious racial discrimination became illegal and less and less apparent, the idea that the nation was homogenizing became popular. it was thought that as the u.s. accepted more immigrants from different cultures a sort of "melting pot" would occur and unify everyone under one creed. along with this, ideologies formed that every group of immigrants goes through the same discrimination. groups were thought to eventually assimilate, but racism remained and is still present today.