Question

Did White Virginians enslave people of African American descents because of long held, deep seated racial bias?

Answer 1

Yes, they did:

• In 1629, Virginia’s General Court ordered a general muster (gathering) of all the inhabitants (men, women and children) both Englishe (a term they used to refer to other non-English Europeans) as well as Negroes, who were perceived as a separate group. This goes beyond the belief that White culture was superior than the one of the Negroes; White Virginians had from the beginning a long held deep-seated antipathy to the African American descendants.

• According to 16th century English sources, there was a serious English prejudice against Africans even before 1619. The English tended to relate blacks with apes, unbridled sexuality, and with extremely un-Christian behavior. All of these ideals created a profound prejudice against Africans, and such prejudice was carried to America as well. English also believed that the skin pigmentation of blacks had implications of evil and repugnance.

• Therefore, White Virginians considered Africans not only as a separate group but as group of people visually, socially, and maybe biologically different, labelling them as inferior to white people. As a result, White Virginians believed that Africans “qualified” as slaves because they were different and considered them evil.