Racism and Economics go Hand in Hand for Slavery

What do you think played a larger part in the slave trade: economics or
racism? Why/Why not? Upon reading Painter’s six chapters and my own prior knowledge of African American history I would believe that it is a combination of both. I do not feel that one is greater than the other. I feel that hatred and miscommunication aided the fuel to manipulate and abuse another culture for economic gain. I believe that the idea of racism made it easy to view slavery as a means of profit and vice versa. It was easier to say that you are helping a group of uncivilized people to become civilized by capturing them and “taming” them. When the true idea is that because of the racism or feeling of superiority to Africans it was easy to use them as a commodity and grow their business. Painter states that, “African slavery was neither racial nor hereditary;” I would dispute this statement for the simple notion that Europeans could have enslaved other Europeans or others of the same nationality. The idea that Europeans in the past had indentured servants or something along the lines of indentured servants that they paid close to nothing for their work they could have continued that pattern or something similar to it. The idea that African slavery changed the mode there had to be a difference not merely for profit but something that made the inhumane idea of slavery continue to be ok (which would be the idea of racism). I believe adamantly that racism and economic wealth went hand in hand to maintain the institution of slavery. One needed the other to prosper, without racism the idea of slavery would not have had the opportunity to take flight or continue, there would have been no reason to enslave another “civilized” culture and without the notion of free labor to expand economic wealth there would have been a system in place much like the indentured servant that would have been in use. Each concept needed the other to be put into use and maintained, in this light no evil should be viewed as lesser they stand as equals.