The Development of Racial Ideology

Modern conceptions of race developed around the time of the Enlightenment, when European philosophers began to inspect differences between groups. Practices of anthropology and documentation of different cultures led to the spread in ideas of racial differences, both physically and culturally. “The Idea of Race” contained evidence of this developing ideology. The document examined the pseudo-scientific exploration of race, with some individuals such as Emmanuel Kant investigating race as an evolutionary development among humankind. The newly discovered notions of evolution helped to pave the way for the discussion of race in this context. If different species of birds had developed over time to adapt to their surroundings, then so too could humans. So, people began to infer that this was the driving force behind racial differences. Since the Enlightenment was occurring at the same time as the age of exploration, documentation and classification of different indigenous people became an important part of colonization and the overall economic effectiveness of exploration. If Europeans were able to better understand the people who they were about to enslave and/or colonize, they would be better able to control them. Europeans would be better able to understand their cultural practices and ideas, and as a result, would be able to mold these practices and ideas into productivity and economic advantages.

As colonization began to take hold in the Americas, the indigenous populations began to dwindle as a result of disease and conflict. It became increasingly apparent that a new labor source was needed. So, Europeans looked to their African neighbors as a source for labor. Enslaved Africans began to be imported in large quantities, and as their numbers increased in the Americas, so too did racial ideology. Whites adapted their notions of race to the changing times. Africans began to be looked at as racially inferior, and destined for servitude. Furthermore, the spread of Christianity during the Great Awakening paved way for the moral defense of racial ideology and white supremacy, as Africans were non-Christians who needed whites to bring them the word of God.

From the Enlightenment onward, racial ideology has developed and changed to match the needs and beliefs of its perpetrators. It is important to inspect the changes over time, and the beginning of race thinking to understand the contemporary moment, as these Enlightenment thoughts no doubt play a massive role in the way we understand race today, similar to how they affect how we understand government today.