Heroes and Rebellions

Enslavement

When white Europeans began to settle in the Americas, there were far fewer Europeans than there were Africans, and the Europeans were divided based on nationality. To retain power over the enslaved population, the “white race” was created. This unified the Italians, French, British and so on as one group with a common interest of remaining at the top of the social hierarchy. As this began, in Europe, we saw publications in the Enlightenment period (17th - 18th century) affirming natural law, where white people were described as naturally smarter, more capable, and more human than others. This idea allowed for white supremacy to exist. In its simplest form, white supremacy means that whiteness is superior to all other forms of being. Africans and blackness are situated at the opposite end of this spectrum, and therefore Black people are viewed as the least smart, the least capable and the least human. These ideas justified the conquest of Africa and the enslavement of African people as well as the displacement of Indigenous populations across the world.

What this tells us is that even though race is made up, it causes real harm for people.