This early discrimination did not preclude Jews from redemption, through conversion, but it did make distinctions between Christians and non-Christians. In the 14th century, the format of anti-Semitism changed; Jews were a people associated with the devil, who could never be redeemed because of some intrinsic difference in their make-up. The Christian doctrine of one blood had to be overcome so the Christians started to label Jews as non-human. The difference in beliefs was used to justify the racist ideology.
According to Moss, enlightenment was the cradle for modern racism. As first glance this may seem strange, for enlightenment asserts that all people are intrinsically the same, and born free. However the basis for enlightenment was categorisation and the desire to categorise newly encountered people sprung from this. Differences among racial groups were explained by the fact that societies progress and develop at different rates. The Europeans saw themselves further along the development chain, so they had the right to not only "civilise" other groups, but also to exploit and utilise their resources, for they had no concept of property. Thus we see that from enlightenment, that distinctions between different groups were made, these distinctions laid a foundation for racists.
Gobineau believed that there were 3 fixed racial groups, namely white, yellow and black, with white being at the top of the chain and black being at the bottom: "As these races [mixtures of white with other races] recede from the white type, their features and limbs become incorrect in form; they acquire defects in proportion, which in the races which are completely foreign to us, end by producing an extreme ugliness." He believes that there is difference in blood that cannot be overcome and any mixing of different blood types will only lead to a degeneration of the superior. He attributes superiority to the "white" race in every facet of life, more than likely due to the fact that he was a member of the French Aristocracy, and thus his theory places him at the pinnacle of the human species.
