Ethnic groups and discriminationAccording to the teaching when I was young, my ancestors are of English origin. The surname Aycock is of Anglo-Saxon origin. My grandmother told me that the original spelling of the family surname is Heycock. The first immigrants of my lineage came from England aboard ships in the year 1682. Leaving England behind for economic, religious and political reasons, my ancestors decided to find a new hope (V. Aycock, personal communication, 1976). Therefore, I am convinced that my ethnic group immigrated and colonized the United States of America. The English paved the way for immigration for most other ethnic groups. The United States was born from the developing English colonies. Jamestown, founded in 1607, was the original English settlement. Troubled times arose in the early days of Jamestown. Famine and disease took away many colonists. In June 1612 the first tobacco began to be grown on the farms. That same year, slavery was introduced in the original 13 colonies (Oracle Education Foundation, 2008). My English lineage does not lead me to condone the actions of the colonists in any way. Not only those brought from Africa, but also the Native Americans who were already here suffered the same torture as the slaves. I believe these actions had a strong influence on prejudice, segregation and racism in the United States of America. It is evident that from these early actions of the colonists this way of thinking would be accepted until President Lincoln abolished slavery in 1865. Even after the abolition of slavery, prejudice, racism, and segregation became more evident and violent towards minorities. Today every ethnic origin is responsible for some... half of the paper... and not just a privileged few. I don't think it's the year 2010 and I'm writing an essay about discrimination today. In my mind this should be a history article about actions that happened a long time ago and are no longer present in today's world. According to Corporation for National and Community Service (2010), “life's most persistent and urgent question is: What are you doing for others?” (How did you answer Dr. King's question?). References Corporation for National and Community Service (2010). Retrieved from http://www.mlkday.gov/Office of Equal Opportunity & Diversity. 2002). A Brief History of Affirmative Action. Retrieved from http://www.oeod.uci.edu/aa.htmlOracle Education Foundation (2008). org/20619/English.html