Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Capitalism, racism and the 1 Percent
http://socialistworker.org/2015/03/31/capitalism-racism-and-the-1-percentStarting with Bacon's Rebellion in 1676, there were significant uprisings in the American colonies, with poor whites and Black slaves often joining forces to fight against their common masters. Ruling classes responded by passing slave codes to discipline Blacks, while offering privileges to poor whites. According to the historian Theodore Allen, this amounted to "the invention of the white race."
After an exhaustive survey of 17th century records, Allen reported: "I have found no instance of the official use of the word 'white' as a token of social status before its appearance in a Virginia law passed in 1691." Soon after this point, however, the Virginia Assembly proclaimed that all white men were superior to Blacks and passed a law requiring masters to provide white servants whose indenture time was up with money, supplies and land.
RACISM ALLOWED the ruling class to divide and conquer the mass of the population. In the words of Frederick Douglass, "They divided both to conquer each." That is why racism survived the abolition of slavery with the Civil War.
In the 1870s, racism was used to subvert alliances between poor whites and former slaves and to undermine the basic democratic rights granted to African Americans during the post-Civil War Reconstruction era overseen by the federal government. In the 1890s, it was used again to defeat the Populist movement, which in the South threatened to unite poor whites and Blacks against the ruling class.
After an exhaustive survey of 17th century records, Allen reported: "I have found no instance of the official use of the word 'white' as a token of social status before its appearance in a Virginia law passed in 1691." Soon after this point, however, the Virginia Assembly proclaimed that all white men were superior to Blacks and passed a law requiring masters to provide white servants whose indenture time was up with money, supplies and land.
RACISM ALLOWED the ruling class to divide and conquer the mass of the population. In the words of Frederick Douglass, "They divided both to conquer each." That is why racism survived the abolition of slavery with the Civil War.
In the 1870s, racism was used to subvert alliances between poor whites and former slaves and to undermine the basic democratic rights granted to African Americans during the post-Civil War Reconstruction era overseen by the federal government. In the 1890s, it was used again to defeat the Populist movement, which in the South threatened to unite poor whites and Blacks against the ruling class.
Long article. Please read it fully.
5 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
Response to AZ Progressive (Original post)
