Racism against various ethnic or minority groups has existed in the United States since the colonial era. African Americans in particular have faced restrictions on their political, social, and economic freedoms throughout much of United States history. Native Americans have suffered genocide, forced removals, and massacres, and they continue to face discrimination. Non-Protestant immigrants from Europe, particularly Jews, Irish people, Poles, and Italians, were often subjected to xenophobic exclusion and other forms of ethnicity-based discrimination. In addition, Hispanics, Middle Eastern Americans, and Asian Americans along with Pacific Islanders have also been discriminated against.