What I do know is, that up until the late 18th century, no one cared. Race is not even a real scientific thing. It's pseudo-science. Something somebody made up. The real meaning of race has more to do with social realities than skin color.

Slavery

The first people the English tried to enslave were the Irish. The English have had hostile relations with the Irish since the 13th century. Some Englishmen proposed to enslave the poor. Most slaves in English colonies were Irish or Indian.

The following is a quote from Audrey Smedley : Origin of the idea of race.

In the latter part of the 17th century the demand for labor grew enormously. It had become clear that neither Irishmen nor Indians made good slaves. More than that, the real threats to social order were the poor freed whites who demanded lands and privileges that the upper class colonial governments refused. Some colonial leaders argued that turning to African labor provided a buffer against the masses of poor whites.

Until the 18th century the image of Africans was generally positive. They were farmers and cattle-breeders; they had industries, arts and crafts, governments and commerce. In addition, Africans had immunities to Old World diseases. They were better laborers and they had nowhere to escape to once transplanted to the New World. The colonists themselves came to believe that they could not survive without Africans.

Money and Power and Religion

There were many people back then that were concerned with Human rights and believed that Slavery was just wrong. The Slave Traders began to market the Idea that Africans were heathens and it was their Christian duty to " save their souls". The only way to justify their actions was to cast Africans in a negative light. Divide them from the rest of the human race and call them "less than". Slavery was not new and even the Bible recounts tales of slavery dating back 2000 years. It seems that .Money, power, and religion have been trying to divide equal peoples for thousands of years, for their own selfish purposes.

We are silly Humans

There is no "best" skin color to have. One human is no better or worse than the next human. " All men were created equal" . Everyone knows that don't they. We are intelligent people. There is more information available now than ever. It doesn't seem possible that racism can even exist. I think the solution to this massive misunderstanding starts with our children. We need to break the cycle of prejudice. We have come a long way in the last 2000 years but, the journey far from over.

Questions for discussion

1.) Where can we do a better job, as a society eliminating racism?
2.) What is our responsibility as parents to our children regarding this issue?
3.) How long do you believe it might take to eliminate racism entirely?
4.) Do you know someone who is a racist but believes that they are not?

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