In 1705, Virginia's House of Burgesses passed the Virginia slave codes. Those laws locked in a brutal system of white supremacy by giving slave owners sweeping rights to control and even torture African people they owned. It was also illegal for black people to employ white people. These two legislative moves drove a hard wedge between poor white and poor black people who sometimes joined forces against the white elite.
When it comes to U.S. government programs and support designed to benefit particular racial groups, history is clear. White folks have received most of the handouts. Part of our summer mini-season of rebroadcasts.
By John Biewen, with Deena Hayes-Greene of the Racial Equity Institute and Season 2 series collaborator Chenjerai Kumanyika.