Yes! America welcomed you.  She longed for you.  She needed free labor.  And, unlike the native tribes, you were immune to the diseases introduced by the Europeans and therefore well suited for extended hours of picking cotton. The tobacco and all produce of the field beckoned you. The unplowed fields did thirst after you.  Being sub-human made you well-suited for the task of ensuring the survival of your captors.  Slave holders believed that you were created by God to not feel the loss of a child sold to strangers; that males were impassionate about the massa’s rape of their wives and girls; that Africans had no need to maintain their native tongue; that enslaved females longed to care for the home and offspring of their captors; and, they devastatingly believed that the obliteration of your identity would have no impact upon you or your posterity.  You were welcomed to this country to be anything – except equal or human.  As non-humans, you would never be entitled to any level of civility or rights that your white counterparts received simply by virtue of their birth.