"One hundred years of delay have passed since President Lincoln freed the slaves, yet their heirs, their grandsons, are not fully free. They are not yet freed from the bonds of injustice. They are not yet freed from social and economic oppression. And this Nation, for all its hopes and all its boasts, will not be fully free until all its citizens are free."
In this excerpt from President Kennedy's 1963 Civil Rights Address the phrase "the bonds of injustice" most likely refers to:
A. one hundred years of delay
B. before President Lincoln freed the slaves
C. social and economic oppression of their heirs
D. the hopes and boasts of this nation