to english north america. it marks the beginnings of the foundation of this nation, of which slavery is deeply imbedded. so we have the beginnings of not just u.s. governing systems, right, that emerge out of this colonial history, but also the foundations of american wealth. reporter: and now african-americans can be part of that wealth in spite of continued struggles of inequality. now we re engineers, lawyers, doctors, presidents, maybe a future female president. but we ve come a long way. reporter: and while they look at the traditions that made them who they are, the next generation is also looking at what their world could be. imagine the problems that would be solved if all people were kind and cared for. it doesn t matter what your race or religion may be, we all deserve kindness.
shackles would have felt like. co-director of african studies at spellman college says this wasn t the first group of africans in america. there were others already taken to what were then spanish, portuguese and french territories, but this does mark the first to english north america. it marks a beginning of the foundations of this nation, of which slavery is deeply embedded. we have the beginnings of not just u.s. governing systems, right, they emerge out of this colonial history but also the foundations of american wealth. reporter: and now african-americans can be part of that wealth despite struggles inequality. now we re engineers, lawyers, doctors, presidents, maybe a future female president. but we ve come a long way. reporter: while they look at the traditions that made them who they are, the next generation is also looking at what their world could be.
doctors, presidents, maybe a future female president. but we ve come a long way. reporter: and while they look at the traditions that made them who they are, the next generation is also looking at what their world could be. imagine the problems that would be solved if all people were kind and felt cared for. it doesn t matter what your race or religion may be. we all deserve kindness. can we talk about where we re going? and can we talk about what is necessary to get there? as we look at the next 400 years. reporter: natasha chen, cnn, hampton, virginia. our thanks to natasha chen for that report. now he was a fashion icon, a design genius, ahead of his time. tonight, tune in for the cnn film about the rise and fall of halston.
college says this isn t the first group of africans in america, there were those taken to spanish, portuguese and french territories. it marks a beginning of the foundations of this nation. and of which slavery is deeply embedded. so we have the beginnings of not just u.s. governing systems, right, the colonial history, but also the foundations of american wealth. reporter: now african-americans can be part of that wealth in spite of continued struggles of inequality. now we re engineers, lawyers, docto doctors, presidents, maybe a future female president. but we ve come a long way. reporter: and while they look at the traditions that made them who they are, the next generation is also looking at what their world could be. imagine the problems that would be solved if all people were kind and felt cared for.