Slavery; The Cause of Racism

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal. (Martin Luther King Jr; August 28th, 1963) For decades, men have asked themselves, which came first: slavery, or racism. The truth is, slavery caused racism. The white man could not be prejudice against a race that he did not know about. Slavery came about, not because of racism, but because of the need for cheap labor in Europe and the colonies. When slavery was at its peak of power, slaves understandably held no respect towards their white owners. That, in turn, caused the white masses to loose the shreds of respect that they had towards the slaves, and despise the Africans. The human race as a whole has always been narrow minded and ignorant, racism being no exception. In the end, slavery caused racism.

First, Caucasians could not be prejudice against a race that they did not know about. In truth, slavery came about only because of the lack of cheap labor in other countries. White men found it an easy way to get work done, and other countries found it an easy way to make money by selling the slaves. In the colonies, the amount of slaves skyrocketed. Not because of racism, but because of the lack of indentured servants coming to the new country. The truth of the fact was, if there were no indentured servants, a man only had two options available to him: either hire workers, and give them wages, or pay a quick fee on an auction block for a strong slave, and make that slave work for free. Naturally, the human race has always wanted the cheap, quick fix, and so most went with the latter choice.

Also, during the period of time when slave numbers were at their highest, there were few recorded rebellions. Most slave owners feared their slaves rebelling, or joining with the natives.

(website) Very few rebellions were actually recorded. During the first few years of slavery, slavery was more like indentured servitude. The Africans were treated, if not equal to the Europeans, at least fairly. However, when slave owners became crueler, harsher towards their slaves, respect between the two races dwindled. The Africans hated the Europeans for enslaving them and tormenting them. The Europeans were condescending towards the Africans because they knew that, in most cases, overpowering the slave owner would be laughably easy. Very few slaves, however, actually rebelled, and the lack of spirit caused the Europeans to believe that they had won. This, in turn, caused even more disrespect between the races, which eventually blossomed into racism.

Finally, the human race as a whole is an ignorant, narrow minded lot. Humans see themselves as the rulers of the planet, and that is true in some cases. However, the human ego drives the human race as a whole. If one race sees that it can control another, it does. After a while of having that kind of power, the thought that the one race is better than the other becomes permanently ingrained in the minds of the race that holds the power. Power corrupts humans, and therefore corrupted humans make mistakes that brand the rest of the world in ways that last for years. After years of holding Africans in slavery, other races automatically assumed that that was what Africans were good for. Once Africans began to fight back, and show spirit, the races that held them under their thumbs became enraged, and began to hate Africans even more. From that hatred came racism.

In conclusion, while many doubt which came first, racism or slavery, a few simple examples can easily point out the answer. In truth, no race can loath another in the harsh way

needed to cause racism, before they even meet the other race. Once slavery gained some support, and became the harsh and cruel procedure that todays people think of, respect was lost on both sides. Also, a lot of the blame has to be placed on human nature in general. Like a dog with a bone, once a human latches hold of something he wants to keep forever, he fights like an animal to keep it, and once it is taken from him, he resents the one who took it. The answer to the question is simple, in the end. Slavery caused racism, not the other way around.