uld not matter to the extent it causes an inability to cooperate. Race and culture have come to define our personal identities, and maybe that is okay. As long as it is coming from a place of pride and not driven by exclusion. Why do we have so much trouble with white pride? Because white pride seems inextricably linked to oppression. This type of racial/cultural pride only leads to a perpetuation of the current artificially created racial barriers. Meanwhile, black pride clings too much to a shared history of collective oppression. Do not be mistaken, the racial engineering that took place stemmed from money, and not hatred. Native Americans, as well as blacks were deemed less because they posed a threat to the wealth and power of colonists. Colonists desired the land, the dismissal of Native Americans and blacks to be subordinate. But like the unnatural treatment of both black and white servants of the time, it is unnatural for a person to be blindly subordinate. Moreover, to be so in the face of cruel punishment, physical, and emotional terrorism and mistreatment.
Stratification is everything. And, if a structure is put in place, minus any regulatory body, or board of directors, then the “men” at the top will answer to no one. At the top of the pyramid are the aristocrats. The rule makers. They create the standards and practices for everyone below to follow. It sounds like an innocent organizational structure, but without any checks and balances. Next are the poor whites, mainly a servant class. Many of whom were not treated much better than slaves. On the last tier lies everyone else. This is an oversimplified example. In the modern day, there are far more levels, upper middle class, lower middle class, working poor, etc. But the principle remains the same. Laws, rules, and regulations that are set by a ruling minority hell bent on protecting their wealth. What also must be noted is the ruling class, the rule makers, represented a tiny fraction of the population. During a time when an uprising was a realistic threat, having a cooperating majority who greatly outnumber you is just simply not an option. This is another reason that our democratic processes would later be built in a way that is “kinda” democratic. A true democracy would never support the agenda of the ruling elites. Similarly, a majority of oppressed would never allow such injustices to continue once they were gathered as a people.
“In 1698, South Carolina passed a “deficiency law” requiring plantation owners to have at least one white servant for every six male adult negroes”
Now that we have established the pyramid of power, the ruling elites power structure, we can begin to look at the policies enacted to solidify these positions. As I stated previously, Bacon’s Rebellion was a turning point in the philosophy of the colonists. From this point forward it became increasingly clear that colonist needed a plan to keep blacks mentally and physically subdued. They also needed something for poor whites to do. Vagrancy was a severe problem at this time. One of the first racially dividing actions taken was to provide amnesty to whites who had participated in the rebellion. Blacks were forbidden from carrying arms, meanwhile “whites finishing their servitude would get muskets, along with corn and cash.” These types of policies created the divide between poor whites and blacks. Distinctions that would only increase as the position of poor whites was steadily elevated through policy enactment.
Some things never change, and the hands-off nature of the ruling elite of this time is no different from today. Wealthy white land and slave owners at one point did not even have to fight in wartime for themselves. A law allowed them to send a “replacement soldier” to fight for them. I mention this to highlight the stark disconnect between the consequences and actions of the rule makers. One would find it far easier to make the decision to go to war knowing that you personally faced no danger. Similarly, many men who stood to benefit from the engineered race relations had n