Racialdiscrimination,or,thecolorproblem,refersmainlytoNegroesintheUnitedStates,astheyconstituteonetenthofthetotalpopulation.Theterm"Negro"isappliedtopeopledescendedorpartlydescendedfromslavestransportedfromAfricalongago.ItisnowavoidedbymanywhiteAmericansforfearofoffendingtheir"non-white"brothers.Theoldterm"nigger"isnowconsideredtobeinsulting,andisaltogetheravoidedindecentusage.Inofficialstatisticstheterm"non-white"isused,andinordinarysituationsitisacceptabletocallnon-whitepeople"black",althoughthistermwasoncealsosomewhatinsulting.

　　种族歧视或肤色问题,在美国主要指与黑人有关的问题,因为他们占美国总人口的十分之一.尼格罗（Negro）这一词,是指很久前从非洲运来的黑人奴隶的后裔或混血后裔.现在许多美国白种人避免使用尼格罗这一名称,以免引起"非白种"兄弟们的不快.旧的称呼黑崽（nigger）如今被认为是污蔑黑人的用语,在正规的习惯用语中已完全摒而不用.在官方统计中用的是"非白种"一词,在通常情况下,把非白种人称为黑种人（black）是行得通的,虽然该词一度也带有几分侮辱的意思.

　　Withoutsomereferencetohistoricalback-ground,theNegropositiontodaycouldn'tbeunderstood.Theblackpopulationisabout20million.TheirancestorswerebroughttoAmericaasslavesintheseventeenthandeighteenthcenturies.NearlyalltheirdescendantswerekeptinlegalslaveryintheSouthuntil1865.ThesouthernstatesweredefeatedintheCivilWarandwereforcedtoabolishslaveryandsettheslavesfree.ButthesouthernersweredeterminedtokeeptheNegroesfrombecomingequalinanythingbutconstitutionallaw.

　　不掌握些历史背景方面的材料,就无从了解黑人今天的地位问题.目前美国的黑人人口略多于三千万,其中百分九十的人,祖先是在十七和十八世纪被作为奴隶引进美洲的.他们的后裔,直到一八六五年在美国南方还全部处于法定的奴隶地位.在南北战争中.南方诸州战败,被迫废除奴隶制,释放了奴隶.但是南方人决心,除了在宪法上（意思是指仅在一纸虚文上）,任何方面都不让黑人得到平等待遇.

　　TheFederalGovernmenthas,graduallycompelledthewhitemajorityintheSouthtoallowNegroestoenjoycivicrights.Butlegalprotectionhasbeenslowtodevelopandhasnotyetsolvedthesocialproblemofinequalityinvoting,education,employmentandhousing.

　　联邦政府逐渐地迫使在南方占多数的白人允许黑人享有公民权利.但是有关的法律保障进展缓慢,至今未能解决在选举、教育、就业和住房方面不平等的社会问题.

　　Themassesoftheunemployedblackandthemountingwrathagainstsocialinjusticeconstituteanactivevolcanoinsocietyandareattractingmoreandmoreseriouspublicconcern.Thosewhoworryaboutthefutureofthecountryhavebeenseekingawaytothesolutionoftheproblem.Soin1954,theSupremeCourtdecidedthatthewholesystemofseparateeducationintheSouthwasdenyingtheconstitutionalrightofequaltreatmenttotheNegroes.Itorderedthatthesoutherneducationalauthoritiesshouldintegratetheirschoolsforthewhitewiththeschoolsfortheblack.In1964PresidentJohnsonsignedtheCivilRightsActs,banningdiscriminationinpublicplacebaseduponraceorcolor.ButiftheFederalGovernmenthasbeenmakingsomeeffortforaprogramofprovidingequaleducationopportunitytoallminoritypeople,theprogresshasbeenslowanddifficult.

　　黑人失业群众以及社会不公平引起的日益增长的愤慨,构成了隐藏在社会里的一个活火山,愈来愈引起公众密切的关注.担心国家前途的人士一直在寻求解决问题的途径.于是在一九五四年,美国最高法院裁定,南方的整个隔离教育制度违反了宪法规定的黑人享受平等待遇的权利.最高法院命令南方教育当局将黑人儿童学校与白人儿童学校合并.一九六四年,约翰逊总统签署了民权法案,禁止在公共场所实行种族或肤色上的歧视.但是即便联邦政府曾进行过一定的努力,来实现向所有少数民族提供教育机会均等的计划,其进展也是缓慢而艰难的.