In this class during week 2 we asked the question, did slavery create racism or did racism create slavery? After reading this book it is clear that Genovese believes that racism occured due to slavery. Slaves were vital for the south economically and slaveowners knew that they needed to keep strict control of the slaves. They justified what they were doing through the idea of paternalism, but this idea of controlling the slaves reinforced racism.
I believe that more so then slavery, paternalism led to racism. The churches that the slaves attended did not ask the slaves to rebel against the system of slavery, but rather justified rebelling against slaveowners who were not carrying out their benevolent duties.
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