According to globalsecurity.org, race is a short word with a long history in the Untied States. Race is a powerful idea that was invented by society. It is an eduring concept that has molded our nations economy, laws and social institutions. It is a complex idea that has shaped each of our destinies.
Race originated during the European era of exploration. According to globalsecurity.org, Europeans like Christoper Cloumbus traveled overseas and encountered and then colonized or conquered people in Africa, Asia, and America who looked, talked, and acted much differently than them. These differences were then classified into different systems by naturalist and scientist. The different systems became the foundation for the notions of races as we know today.
In European colonies the first labors were European apprenticed servents. Then in 1619 African servants were forced to move to Virginia. At this time status was defined by wealth and religion not by race but this soon changed. The development of intercontinental slave trade led the landowners to start replacing their temporary European laborers with enslaved Africans. A new social structure emerged based on skin color with English people being at the top of the system and African slaves and American Iindians at the bottom. In 1776 when "alll mean are created equal" was written into the Declaration of Independence, Africans and Indians were viewed as less than human and were therefore not given the same liberties as whites. In the ninteenth and twentieth centuries racism continued.
Posted by Katie Hoffmaster
