The United States and Brazil each contain “large minorities of indigenous peoples, blacks (because both were slaves until the second half of the 19th century), and immigrants from Italy, Germany and Asia (Chinese predominate in the United States; Japanese in Brazil)” (“Comparison between Brazil and the United States: the American brothers”). The indigenous population was susceptible to foreign diseases brought to the colonies by European settlers, making it difficult to use them as a workforce. Slavery became the only viable option for Europeans if they did not want to work themselves. Although both were important slave societies, the difference between the United States of America and Brazil lies in the racial classes within the two states. The racial classes of the United States originate from the deep segregation of people of European origin (Caucasians) who are the privileged and "superior" race, while the black population (originally taken from their countries and forced into slavery in the Americas) is the "inferior" and without adequate standards of living. African Americans were subject to segregation and legal discrimination, as well as attacks (including torture and lynching) by a white supremacist group called the Ku Klux Klan (simply because of skin color) created severe socioeconomic disadvantages for the black population