The virginia house of burgesses was the first legislative body in colonial america. The law made all non europeans, negroes, moors, mulattoes and indians slaves to all intents and purposes. By 16 80, the virginia huse of burgess is literally debating what is a white man? What are we giving away land and rights? We are basically deciding who will be the citizen of this new world.
Chattel slavery in the United States, with its distinctive – and strikingly cruel – laws and structures, took shape over many decades in colonial America. The innovations that built American slavery are inseparable from the construction of Whiteness as we know it today. By John Biewen, with guest Chenjerai Kumanyika.
Key sources for this episode:
The Racial Equity Institute
Ibram Kendi, Stamped from the Beginning
Nell Irvin Painter, The History of White People