This is due to the fact that they were granted more power in society. Many times, a slave would be purchased by a kind and caring man or woman. After they bought the slave, they were in a position of great power over another human and this often caused them to treat the slave cruelly. Frederick Douglass shares a great example of this in his narrative, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, “But, alas! …show more content…
Children were raised to view African-Americans a certain way because of slavery. Slaves were treated like savage animals during the institution of slavery. This allowed people to believe the stereotypes that African-American people were in fact animals and can be called and treated as such. Frederick Douglass brings light to this when he says, “Our food was coarse corn meal boiled. This was called mush. It was put in a large wooden tray or trough, and set down upon the ground. The children were then called, like so many pigs, and like so many pigs they would come and devour the mush” (72). A scene like this gives reason for a slaveholder to believe that African-Americans were in fact animals and considered inferior to whites, prompting racism toward all African-Americans. As one can see, slavery encourages racism in southern whites and therefore is negative for southern whites as