Lecture 2

Thursday, October 5, 2017 3:33 PM

Nationality

In a society that has a long history of racism, specifically white supremacy, could that
society have created a racist culture that is so deep that you don’t even see much of
the racism

Racism
• A system institutionalized (embedded into functioning) to break the solidarity of
oppressed people and further the greater exploitation of people labeled the
racial inferior (people who are not truly part of the nation [people of color])
• Divide the oppressed
• Exploitation= taking advantage and profiting from other's labor
• Exploitation of labor- do valuable work for less money, lower labor
○ Force you to work for lower wages
• Origins: in british north america
○ English land owners drew from africa from slave trade and got africans as
slave tradors
§ Drew from english workers (indentured servants)(farm labors and
they and the africans worked side by side)
§ The work was so hard many died in early age and died before the
indentured contract was even up
§ English and african workers tried running away to where the indian
tribes were were they were not touched
□ Intermarried
□ Revolted together
® Bacon's rebellion
◊ So great that although it was put down, one of
the things the authorities took note of the rebel
bands were mixed black and whites working
together as armed rebels
◊ 1739 in city of new York there was a rebellion as
great negro plot/ conspiracy
} Blacks with whites as co-rebels
□ If you look at pre-US you'll find conspiracy and rebellion,
multiracial rebellions
 together as armed rebels
◊ 1739 in city of new York there was a rebellion as
great negro plot/ conspiracy
} Blacks with whites as co-rebels
□ If you look at pre-US you'll find conspiracy and rebellion,
multiracial rebellions
□ Authorities eventually began to write laws prohibiting whites
and blacks are not to help each other, are not to intermarry,
® Blacks from the beginning were stigmatized
® White skin was a buffer from greater punishment
◊ White privilege
◊ Didn’t give them power but gave them a buffer
and encouraged selling out the blacks and
breaking solidarity
□ Before intellectuals starting writing on the races of humanity,
racism and the system of white supremacy emerge as
practical political power
§ Men of property are the ones making the laws
§ Laws come first and then intellectual justification for law comes
second
□ Funded from the masters (government)
□ Political interest and power lead