The Formation of Race

Between 1600 and 1800 British settlers and Americans established belief and behavioral systems that separated people based on their place of origin and their phenotype. These systems were by no means created by chance or accident. Various texts, such as A Different Mirror, and Racial Formations clarify as to how those barriers and socially-constructed systems came into place.

The motivations for creating racial divisions are clearly defined in Takaki’s, A Different Mirror. As Takakai describes, “Although whites and blacks came from different shores, they shared the common feelings of fear and hostility at the egregious mistreatment they received”. It was by these shared feelings that they were united, in order to create a rebellion. After brutal fighting, the rebellion was eventually extinguished. However, the reality of class revolution had become painfully evident to the elite landholders. Their order of class would be in danger, as long as they relied on white labor.

It was the realization of additional imminent insurrections, and the fact that landholders were losing their economic advantages over white and black workers alike, that prompted them to organize society by class in addition to race. After Bacon’s rebellion, blacks were singled out as a cheaper labor source than whites. By isolating a workforce with legislation, the terms “white” and “black” became more defined in the eyes of the people as a cultural phenomena, rather than its true essence as a way for the greedy power elite to manipulate the lower class.
Yet another example, found in A Different Mirror, describes a cultural practice that legitimizes the creation of racial barriers. Culturally, the practice of viewing Native Americans as sub-human became a norm. In this belief, it was held that Native Americans simply were not fit to assimilate into society. This practice contributed to how Andrew Jackson and his troops rationalized the slaughter of the Creek tribe as “advancing civilization and progress”. It was these views that gave them a sense of moral justification for their brutality and created a sense of racialization for Native Americans.

The text of Racial Formations describes the legal codes put into place in order to create racial distinctions. In such a description, it is stated, “With slavery, a racially-based understanding of society was set in motion which resulted in the shaping of a specific racial identity not only for the slaves, but for the European settlers as well” This is evident in the legislation that was passed that addressed the “one-drop” rule, and banned interracial union. The one-drop rule states that mulattoes were classified as black, and therefore slaves, regardless of being fathered or mothered by whites. Racial identity in this case, was used to specify free, or slave, The ban on interracial union became a cultural taboo, that was said to separate and clarify racial ambiguity. However, in reality, it only served as a cultural police for furthering oppression and setting a “clear” example of what race was supposed to be. An example, that didn’t even exist in the times of indentured servitude, and was therefore created with the sole purpose of malicious intentions.
As proof that these barriers and distinctions of race are mere works of fiction, the very existence or acknowledgement of its definition did not exist in 1600. That alone is proof enough that their principles had to be thought of, and then put into practice, meaning, thought up by human beings in order to assert power over one another. The socio-historical meaning of race has evolved from its creation, its sum being legal codes, social and cultural practices, and the (even if brief) involvement of every single institution since.