What Is Racism?.
There is nothing natural about racism. Racism is attitudes, customs, and laws that are based on negative attitudes toward a specific group. Racial prejudices are the basis for discrimination. Discrimination is decisions and actions that are based on stereotyping. When social prejudice is combined with the power to discriminate against any and all members of a group, it is called racism. I would like to explain my general findings about racism and what is happening to the world because of it.
The institution of slavery had existed throughout human history, in almost every century, in almost every culture. But until the eleventh century people were enslaved mainly because of war. During the crusade, Christians and Muslims used religion to justify slavery. In the fifteenth century, race became the primary basis for slavery.
In 1444, Henry the navigator, Prince of Portugal, sent ships to explore the coast of Africa. His men brought back captives who were sold into slavery. Africans were not seen as inferior because of skin color, and their status as slaves was not necessarily inherited by their children.
When the Europeans stumbled onto America, the African slave trade began to grow. Americas' sparsely populated land and its promise of unlimited riches could not be exploited without large amounts of labor. The cheaper the labor the greater the profits. The English began to establish their own colonies along the eastern seaboard through trading companies chartered through King James. Some companies cultivated crops. Servants were brought to the colonies along with captive Africans to work the plantations. Until the late 1600s, Blacks were referred to in public records as servants. At first, White and Black servants were treated equally. They were overworked, underfed, beaten, and treated with contempt. In the 1660s, when Europe began to need North American crops, such as cotton, rice, and tobacco, things changed.
