Thursday, September 10, 2009
Racism and Slavery
I believe that racism was a result of slavery because of the history that supports it. In the early years of settlement, blacks and whites often worked on equal terms and most of the time both could leave their servitude and become free. As demand rose for labor, it became more economical to have slaves that were forcibly brought to America and worked in worse, cheaper conditions. Places like Virginia created a system of personal bondage to get a reliable and stable workforce. I believe that a stereotype was created from the inhuman conditions and arduous work that Africans were put to. Children born into slavery knew no other life, and not being educated added to white racism. Although race allowed Europeans justification for enslavement, I believe it was their different culture and the whites financial motives that caused racism.
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I totally agree with you on the fact that the white's financial motives caused racism becasue when the English were in need of a labor force they turned to the Africans rather then their own people. Gaining profit on the land was one of the English major focuses, and i'm assuming they thought that Africans would do a good job at that. I also agree with you that it was really wrong on how the whites treated the African slaves and that that circumstance brought out the racism towards the Africans.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Ryan, slavery led to racism, and racism began with the need for labor. Racism was not initially taken from slavery but as time went on it became more abundant.
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