The Exploitation of Race
Rashawn Ray

In the previous column, we discussed the social construction of race. The ideology of race surfaces in all facets of our lives from the media to the family to the government. The social construction of race often leads to the exploitation of race. Let us once again and always be mindful of how individuals were exploited because of their race. The Holocaust lasted from 1933-1945 and over 5.7 million Jews were killed in Germany.




The Transatlantic Slave Trade lasted formally in the U.S. from 1619-1865. Over 8 million Africans died during the Middle Passage, which is the transport voyage from Africa to the Americas. Over 20 million Africans died over all. This does not include the Africans who fought against slavery, the millions who have died because of European and American colonization, or the several million that lived through slavery or died during slavery.




On the slave ships from Africa to the Americans, Africans were handcuffed and shackled next to other Africans who did not speak their language so that they would not be able to communicate with each other. Africans would go for days without seeing sunlight. Thus, they were forced to urinate and defecate on themselves and each other. They were often covered with urine, feces, and vomit. When they were brought to the deck of the ship, they had cold, salt ocean water thrown on them and their wounds from whippings and beatings.




Once brought America, they were publically sold at an auction like a piece of equipment such as a vehicle or appliance.



Africans were then broken down like one would break a horse or a wild animal. Whites would take the African male who they considered to be the strongest mentally and physically and publically mutilate and murder him in front of the other slaves. White slave owners and caretakers would beat the African male to a pulp instilling fear in the other slaves. After that, they would tie each of his arms and legs to a horse. They would beat the horses in opposite directions until they ripped the African’s body in separate pieces. Subsequently, whites would select who they considered the second strongest African slave and beat him to a pulp until he yelled out his newly selected name by the slave owner. This established a precedence that African males had lost their power and would be beaten brutally for exerting any form of agency. Thus, most African slave women raised their boys to be submissive. This established a reverse of power in the household.




Additionally, African women were savagely rapped by white slave owners and caretakers. As a result, many mulatto (mixed ancestry of African and European) children were born. Subsequently, the one drop rule was institutionalized whereby anyone who was considered to have African blood was indeed Black. This established a duality whereby lighter-skinned Blacks (considered House Niggers) did domestic duties in the house, while darker-skinned Blacks (considered Field Niggers) did field work outside of the house. And of course the slave masters had a preference for lighter-skinned Blacks because most were his children. Thus, lighter-skinned was better and another form of separation was established among Blacks. Collectively, this was the making of a slave and the institutionalization of the racialization of slavery. This method is alleged to have been established by Willie Lynch, a white slave owner. Slave Whipping and Slave Beating Pics about here

Based on the numbers of those that survived the Transatlantic transport from Africa to America and those who survived slavery, I would say those are some really strong individuals. And if any individuals should be classified as being the fittest based on how they survived, individuals that survived the Transatlantic Slave Trade and the Holocaust should be in that category.





One criticism of slavery is that Africans played an active role in the selling and enslavement other Africans. While this is true to a certain extent, there was much stealing of Africans and killing of those who did not support this form of bondage. Also, slavery in most parts of Africa resembled domestic duties. Most did not entail hard physical labor and/or acts of violence and punish such as whipping and/or lynching. Additionally, some of those Africans who were active proponents of slavery had the perception that American slavery would be indentured servitude whereby Africans would work for seven years and then become free. This was in fact the case until white Europeans realized that the economic gains sustained by slavery had to be instituted to continue.

Hence, the social construction of race, based on the falsifying of the science of race, is used to justify the exploitation of race for economic gains. While slavery and bondage existed, until the Transatlantic Slave Trade, the racialization of slavery did not exist. Still, prejudice against darker skinned groups can be traced back to the first century of the Christian era. Why is this? Because the Greeks and the Romans were trying to overtake the Egyptians and take their knowledge and ideas; accordingly, most of what is considered Greek and/or Roman is actually Egyptian, thus African. Furthermore, much of Western and Northern Africa were already being colonized by Europeans. Thus, the government and power were in the hands of whites and not Blacks. Many Africans fought back and most actually got whipped and/or murdered for running and fighting back. Africans were not forthright victims of slavery. They actively sought to flee and become free.





For example, Sojourner Truth (1797-1883) was a noted lecturer and abolitionist. Although promised her freedom when the state of New York abolished slavery, Truth was forced to remain a slave because her slave owner claimed she was unproductive because of an injured hand. A year later, Truth escaped. Her most recognized speech is entitled, Ain’t I a Woman, which was delivered at the Ohio Women’s Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio.



Nat Turner (1800-1831) was a Black preacher and slave who orchestrated the most noted rebellion against slavery and the ideology of race in 1831—Nat Turner’s Rebellion. Lasting only a couple of days, Turner and his fifty or so followers killed approximately 57 whites. Turner’s heroics are considered by many to be a brave and valiant act of resistance against the racialization of slavery.



Fredrick Douglass (1818-1895) escaped from freedom at the age of twenty and quickly became one of the most influential authors and lecturers in American history. Douglass fought for equality for all and often stated, “I would unite with anybody to do right and with nobody to do wrong.”



Harriet Tubman (1822-1913) was an abolitionist known for the Underground Railroad. Upon escaping from slavery, Tubman made over 19 successful rescue missions and freed over 300 slaves.



In sum, the exploitation of race was used for economic gains. America was built and sustained based on the spoils of African slaves. Today, Blacks’ and other minorities’ opportunities and social interactions are structured as a result of the most heinous act on human kind in the history of the world.



References are available upon request