out of the necessity of wealthy colonists to control their investments. Certain opportunities presented themselves, and though reprehensible, at the time they were more or less just business decisions. A lesson, what some swear are innocuous business decisions in the present, can lead to great unforeseen upheaval in the future.
I wish I had some solution to erase racism from our past, present, and future. I know for sure that the first step is for people to have an “overstanding” of the origins of racism in America. It must be understood, it is the same forces that rob us of our true freedom as citizens that have gifted us with this flawed ideology of race. The same forces that stifle the pay of citizens of every color and background. The same forces that tell a woman what she can and cannot do with her body. The same people that decide how we care for our environment. The same ones who tried to rewrite history. An overly powerful minority, who for hundreds of years have exerted their power through wealth and policy. We must not allow ourselves to be engineered, especially towards a new paradigm incongruent with our human spirit. We do have something working in our favor. We have only one weapon with which to fight back. One weapon that will guarantee that we regain what we were defrauded of long ago. Cooperation.
The assumptions put forth in this paper are not to argue racism did not exist in many forms, on various parts of the globe, as well as for hundreds if not thousands of years earlier than stated in this paper. I only seek to highlight what could have been the introduction of institutionalized racism here in America. Hatred began long before the 1600’s, and justification for reprehensible actions arose with man. It is my hope that once people can see racism as a control mechanism, we can begin to have a conversation about what we can accomplish with our newfound cooperation.
“A People’s History of The United States,” by Howard Zinns (1980)
“Notes on the State of Virginia,” by Thomas Jefferson (1785)
“Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia Almanac and Ephemers,” by Benjamin Banneker (1792-97)