Does racism have a thing in the past, or is it the result of Western modernity? The term “race” was not frequently used in the 1500s. In fact, it was used to determine and identify groups of people with a group connection or kinship.

Would you believe that humans invented the modern-day use of the term “race”? It’s a shorthand term that is used to categorize and describe people into different social groups. It depends on the characteristics, like physical features, skin color, and even generic heredity.

Understanding Where Racism Began

Racism history has made a highly argumentative debate for years.

Living in the modern world today might probably get you thinking, “Does racism has its origins in the pre-modern and ancient past?” You might probably think that racism is the product of Western modernity.

This question might have an important body on medieval, ancient, and even early-modern texts and practices.

As we understand it, the concept of “race” evolved along with the formation of the United States. Yes, it was deeply connected with the development two other terms, “slave” and “white”.

But did you know that the terms “white”, “race”, and “slave” were used by the Europeans in the 1500s? In fact, they brought these words to North America.

However, these words don’t have meanings like they have today. Instead, the developing society of the Americans would turn the meanings of these words into new ideas. There was no clear evidence of racism found in Europe or other cultures before the Middle Ages.

It was believed that the identification of Jews with the devil and the witchcraft of the 13th and 14th centuries was the first signs of racism in the world. In the 16th century, there was an official sanction for this attitude when the Jews and their descendants converted to Christianity and became victims of racial discrimination.

In the 17th century, the philosophers of the European Enlightenment based their ideas on the significance of rationality, reasoning, and even scientific study. Unfortunately, the religion opposed these ideas, as they were not that convinced.

But then again, naturalists and philosophers categorized the world and extended thinking to the people. And with that these beliefs started in the 17th century, but then later argued as there were laws that governed human beings and the world.

As time passed, the wrong notion about “white” people being more capable, smarter, and human than non-white people. Can you imagine that this notion was accepted worldwide?

This categorization of the people became the justification for the colonization of Europe and even the consequent enslavement of the people from Africa.

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Racism History: Roots of It

Now, let’s go back to the root of racism.

While racism can result from ignorance and fear, the root of racism is found in history. Contrary to popular belief, slavery was not invented in the Middle Ages. It has existed for more than a thousand years.

The concept of slavery has existed for centuries already. The “slaves”, or enslaved people, were forced to labor for another. In fact, we can actually point to the term “slave” in the Hebrew Bible, the ancient societies like Rome, Greece, and Egypt. Even other eras of time. Because even during the European and Mediterranean regions, enslavement was acceptable to persons outside the Christian-based faiths.

It became an organized trade until the end of the 14th century when Europeans started to take people from Africa against their will. The slave trade was developed due to the increasing demand for sugar, which lasted for almost 150 years in Britain.

The Irish merchants were also part of the trade. And by the early 18th century, Britain became one of the wealthiest slave trading nations worldwide. It’s because there was a large number of slaves transported from Asian and African colonies going to America and Europe.

Having said that, you and anyone in this world should understand that being a slave was not hereditary or for life. It simply means that the status of being a slave does not transfer from a parent to their child. Everyone must be reminded that in different cultures, slaves were still able to mingle with others, earn money for a living, marry someone, and especially have liberty.

The same goes for people with darker skin, like those from the African continent; they are not considered slaves, especially not enslaved.

Racism in the 19th Century 

Come the nineteenth century, the scientific or secular theory of race moved the focus away from the Bible, and this was during the enlightenment. It was with insistence on the important unity of the human race.

It was also said that 18th-century ethnologists started to think that human beings as a part of this ordinary world were subdivided into 3-5 races. What’s more interesting is that these races are considered a variety of single human species only.

However, in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, many writers and those committed to defending slavery maintained that races are created to be separate species.

And if you didn’t know yet, the 19th century was the age of nationalism, emancipation, and imperialism. All these have contributed to the development and strengthening of racism in the US and Europe.

Even the freedom of blacks from slavery and the Jews got its support from secular and religious believers in human equality. The value of these reforms was to deepen rather than reduce racism.

As a result, race relationships have become more competitive and less protective. This is mainly because of the insecurities of growing industrial capitalism to create a need for victims. The Darwinian even emphasised “the struggle for existence” and the concern for “survival of the fittest”. 

With that, it became helpful in the development of the new and credible racism in an era that viewed race relations as a ground for conflict rather than a steady hierarchy.

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Wrapping Up

Despite the tenacity of racism, one should be aware that the idea of racism might implicate offending. Worse, it could cause crime. This should be prevented and should end. We need to make the world a better place and racists should be educated that we are all born equal, no matter where we come from, our color, and our beliefs.