Why Racism Exists

Throughout the history of the United States, there has been racism. Even though the Civil Rights movement was a success, people still have bitter feelings towards other races. The question of why there is racism is often left out of many history texts, as they seem to focus on the different wars of our time instead. However, the question of why racism exists is a very important one, as racism has been causes of many of the problems throughout history and today, such as the Civil War or the War in Iraq. In Howard Zinn's book: A People's History of the United States: 1492-Present, he explores the different reasons of why racism exists and how it may be stopped if possible. The big debate about racism is nature versus nurture, whether we are born racist, or whether people, events around us cause the problem. Zinn believes that nurture is the cause of racism, and the researcher agrees with
The African slaves would often try to escape to try and reunite with their families. Rebellious slaves would often burn tobacco crops, kill overseers or try and run away. Mass hysteria began to increase rapidly across the colonies, as owners became more fearful that their large number of slaves or servants would rebel. To help Zinn's argument, he wrote how black slaves and white servants would often try and escape together, get drunk together and have relationships with one another. The slave masters often perceived the servants in the same manner as the slaves. Getting back to rebellion, Boston passed laws that if any slaves who were on their own gathered in groups of two or more would be sentenced with whipping. In 1663 a group of white servants and black slaves in Gloucester County, Virginia were planning to rebel against their masters to gain their freedom. The plan was exposed and the slaves were executed. The fear of rebellion of blacks led to deep hatred between the blacks and