The Relationship between White Supremacy, Chattel Slavery, and Segregation
White supremacy was both a product and legacy of American chattel slavery and segregation. White supremacy ideology dates back in the 17th century, where the white race started to hold the idea of being superior to the black race. The superiority and dominance of the whites facilitated segregation and the holding of African Americans in chattel slavery. The racial indifference norms resulted in African Americans being ripped off their political and social freedom. Whites maintained political positions, African Americans were denied to enroll in the same schools as whites, and the two races lived in separate neighborhoods.
Chattel slavery means that own entirely another person’s labor force. The origin of race and racism in the 17th century became a foundation for categories of subordination and domination. The slaves and the whites of that time tinted a belief that there were genetic and biological differences which made whites better human version than blacks (Mitchell 9). The whites created an oppressive system by dehumanizing African Americans. The white dominance spread thoughts of Africans Americans being emotionless humans with no soul or rights. The belief of black’s inferiority made them the potential race of Chattel slavery. The slavery was brutal required human beings with the same features whites painted Blacks to be. The slaveholders intensified chattel slavery by believing that the slaves were nothing more than a means of production and capital retention. The sense of white supremacy did not allow the white race to view blacks as laborers but slaves, who were nothing but chattels. The estrangement was more profound than any economic or social could give to humans; African Americans were constructed as sub-humans by the whites. Humans defined as chattel manufactured products and contributed to capital, which is a direct cause of the present economic status in Western countries.
The scenario of chattel slavery was so brutal that Africans were purchased as goods with the whites manufactured goods. Africans in America were transported to industries and farming fields. Chattel slavery, which used African Americans as slaves, produced sugar, cotton, and other products, which created a new market for British companies. By the 18th century, almost all Western countries were connected to slavery (Gordon, 97). Europeans were in thirsty search for enormous wealth, and the idea that blacks were property (chattel) was the path to the attainment of the desired economic status. The continuation of chattel slavery was a sign that white supremacy had been accepted to dominate, and black’s inferiority subjected them to be the slaves. Slavery was a legal act that meant that the government in practice then allowed categories of subordination and domination to dictate social freedom.
After the chattel slavery was abolished, unbearable living conditions for blacks intensified in the 19th century with the implementation of racial segregation (Jim Crow) laws. Segregation is the act of placing human activities to operate in separate circumstances based on skin color. Segregation was legalized in the 18th and 19th centuries in America due to the tinted believes that blacks and whites were incapable of coexisting (Knoester and Wayne 1-14). The laws institutionalized white supremacy and black inferiority all around South America. Public schools, residents, and transportation were separated as a mandate from the Jim laws. Ethnic minorities blacks included were denied the right to some political activities such as voting. A model of social relations was created where African Americans and whites operated in separate social spaces. Employment was done based on the racial privileges, and that led African American to long-lasting poverty status.
Official segregation first came into existence through what was referred to as ‘Black Codes.” The codes were laws formed to dictate the aspects of the black’s lives, like where they were allowed to work and reside. Through Jim Crow, step segregation was then made official policy, and legislators listed down every activity that was segregated. The policymakers went as far as segregating jails, and public phone booths just so show to what extent the whites disliked African Americans’ presence. Colleges were segregated, and an institute as Virginia Hampton was established for black youth. The institutes separated for black students had whiter instructors to exile the black people from services positions to whites. Therefore, white supremacy dominance managed to marginalize African Americans even after the end of chattel slavery through diminished access to health facilities, education, and other opportunities.
In conclusion, white supremacy had a close relationship to the 18th and 19th-century chattel slavery and segregation in America. Whites spread the idea that they were genetically different superior to blacks and managed to dehumanize African Americans. The dehumanizing made African Americans are perceived as humans with no rights, souls, or emotions, placing them as potential slaves. Blacks were used as means of production and wealth attainment and even sold as manufactured goods to the whites. After slavery, supremacy continued to dominate and cause the enactment of segregation laws. The laws regulated each black activity and separated all the whites’ actions from merging with black activities. Even reparations would not be enough to heal the wounds caused by the white supremacy to African Americans.
References
Gordon-Reed, Annette. “America’s original sin: Slavery and the legacy of white supremacy.” Foreign Aff. 97 (2018): 2.
Knoester, Matthew, and Wayne Au. “Standardized testing and school segregation: like tinder for fire?.” Race, Ethnicity, and Education 20.1 (2017): 1-14.
Liu, William Ming. “White male power and privilege: The relationship between White supremacy and social class.” Journal of Counseling Psychology 64.4 (2017): 349.
Mitchell, Beverly Eileen. “The African American Struggle for Human Dignity in Chattel Slavery and Afterwards.” T&T Clark Handbook of African American Theology (2019): 9.
Newitz, Annalee, and Matt Wray. White trash: Race and class in America. Routledge, 2013.
Williams, David R., and Chiquita Collins. “Racial residential segregation: a fundamental cause of racial disparities in health.” Public health reports (2016).