Theodore W. Allen (1919–2005)

A very thoroughly researched analysis of the origins of racism in the US as an answer to the need for social control of the bonded and slave population. The particular situation in Virginia was contrasted with the Caribbean, South America, and Ireland. The author could have left out the last couple of pages trying to comment on more recent events.

This volume 1 focuses on the forces which foster the formation of a slave class, in the Caribbean, the Americas, and most thoroughly in Ireland. This is presented as background to be used as analogy in exploring the invention of the white race in Volume 2.

"To be a Negro in this country and to be relatively conscious is to be in a rage almost all the time." - James Baldwin

Origins of the "filthy aristocracy of skin" privilege and the conception of white supremacy.