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Blog Post 9/9

InĀ A People’s History of the United States, Zinn talks about the social divide in the chapter titled “Persons of Mean and Vile Condition”. The divide was too one-sided that it made the wealthy fear of being outnumbered by the slaves, Indians, and white lower class, so the wealthy and legislators created a bigger divide between whites and blacks so that there would be more balance. This was the time when the majority of the social divide came from the color of a persons skin instead of socio-economic value.

Again, another chapter in one of Zinn’s makes me rethink what I already know about history. I always was under the impression that slavery in the United States and racism came hand and hand right from the beginning, but apparently, racism came a bit after. We read earlier about how slavery came from a time of low income and a necessity of cheap labor, but I thought that with that came what we know today to be racism. I never was taught about a rebellion that gave more power to the whites so that the balance could be maintained for the wealthy. This is why the majority of the middle class was white. It was to keep a divide from the black and Indian people and it was a way for the wealthy elite to keep their power.

 

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7 Comments

  1. Margot Roussel Margot Roussel

    I was also shocked when I learned about how race was more of an idea that came later as a tool to oppress people. But if you think about it, it makes sense because most people in Europe were the same race and so the dividing factors were mainly nationality, religion, and class. This is crazy to me thinking back because now so many people rely on race as a defining characteristic and a key part of their identity.

  2. Annie Waters Annie Waters

    I think you make a really good point about the historical interactions between classism and racism. Economic disparities faced by BIPOC communities today are so frequently attributed just to racial inequities. While this is undoubtably justified reasoning, it’s interesting to think about the fact that racial hierarchies in America might’ve first originated from economic motives to diminish power for the lower class in addition to race-based marginalization.

  3. Christina Glynn Christina Glynn

    I totally agree, I also thought that slavery and racism came hand and hand but it was shocking to discover and learn that racism somewhat came from the need for cheap labor. When I learned about Bacon’s Rebellion in school there was never much of an emphasis on the divide to keep white people wealthy.

  4. Zariah Chiverton Zariah Chiverton

    I also found it interesting how racism and slavery didn’t come along at the same time in the United States. The way racism made its way into government structures of the United States was very smart by those in power. They made the white servants the bad guys to the black slaves when in reality, the bad people are the wealthy. This tactic is a strategy that is still seen today.

  5. Tess Keating Tess Keating

    I also found it interesting to read about the fact that racism came after slavery actually started because of the need for cheap labor. This reminds me of the phrase “what came first the chicken or the egg?”

  6. William Coben William Coben

    I agree with what everyone has said so far about the fact that race wasnt a factor in the origins of slavry, and later developed into a tool of opression. The origins of slavery stem from the cheap labor necesarry to run and work the large plantations that were so prominent in the south, however the only people who the white land owners felt could handle the difficulty were the black people, so race became intertwined with slavery. Just an interesting sequence of events.

  7. Alexander Barnett Alexander Barnett

    I could not believe what I was reading when I read how the leaders of the colonies attempted to have black slaves fight against Native Americans. Their attempt to dissolve a possible rebellion was to instill racism between the blacks and Native Americans.

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