“Cruelty is contagious in uncivilized communities.” In Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Harriet Jacobs provides a portrait of her life as a black slave in the 1800s. Although Harriet described herself as having yellowish-brown skin; she was the daughter of a black mother and a white father. “I was born a slave; but I never knew it until six years of happy childhood had passed. Born with a drop of black blood, regardless of her white father's status, she inherited the classification of black and inevitably became a slave. Harriet endured years of physical and mental abuse from her master and witnessed firsthand how slaves were treated based on the color of their skin. Years of abuse can only take so long, like many other Southern slaves in the 1800s, Harriet fled to the North in hopes of a better life. After hiding in an attic for several years, Harriet came to the North and helped abolish slavery. Incidents in the life of a slave exposed the brutality of how black slaves were treated and labeled as less inferior than whites. Although the Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery in 1865, it did not provide for racial equality. As a result, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed discrimination based on race or color. Even today, racial equality is still a problem, skin color is often the trigger for society's reaction, the laws in force confirm that the past is still relevant. One area where racial inequality exists is in America's financial institutions; even with the Fair Lending Act and the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act there is still discrimination. As citizens of the United States we are protected by the Fair Lending Act, race does not take precedence over the interest rate...middle of paper...there needs to be laws to protect employees from discrimination based on the color of their skin or on race. Even though the 1800s were two centuries ago, racism is still persistent in the 21st century. Even with the election of the first black president, Obama is biracial, yet he is still recognized as black. Many black Americans thought racism would cease to exist with Obama in office. Skin color and race still survive, after all the United States is multicultural. As in the 1800s, racism had astronomical effects on society; however, American citizens have multiple laws and agencies to protect themselves from racism. Remember, slavery is part of American history and cannot be written off as a wrong. Harriet Jacobs wrote: “There are wrongs that even the grave cannot bury.” Despite the abolition of slavery, racism simply adapted to changes within society.