The unique past of the Black Americans shows their mass captivity, the incredible “middle passage” from their homeland Africa to the New World followed by more than two centuries of chattel slavery on the American slave plantations. Becoming mere property of the white masters, they were treated worse than animals and suffered complete dehumanization. And the history of the Black Americans is the story of their heroic struggle for survival in a highly hostile world. Black American literature documents this unique historical experience and plays a significant role in the mission of racial protest of the Blacks and affirmation of their humanity.