Zinns Article #2-Drawing the Color Line

In the article “Drawing the Color Line” by Howard Zinn, he talks about the true beginning of slavery among English and the Blacks. He mentions how slavery became an “institution” when talking about labor. Zinn talks about in the year 1619, the Virginians were “desperate for labor, to grow enough food to stay alive.” (Pg 23) When talking about slavery, Zinn mentions how they could no longer use the Indians because there were more of them [Indians] then there were English, and if they massacred the Indians they would surely see one [massacre] against them. Zinn states that by the year 1619 there had already been a million blacks bought out to slavery. They [English] targeted the blacks because “they came from a settled culture, of tribal customs and family ties, of communal life and traditional ritual, that African blacks found themselves especially helpless when removed from this.” States Zinn. (pg 26) He mentions the brutality of the slaves when being transported overseas; they were forced to travel in small groups in coffin-sized areas, chained together. The odds of them surviving the trip overseas was about one and three, however the profits doubled in time so it made the trip worth it to the slave traders. Zinn talks about the historical “web” of events leading to the slavery this is what he says; “We see now a complex web of historical threads to ensnare blacks for slavery in America: the desperation of starving settlers, the special helplessness of the displaced African, the powerful incentive of profit for slave trader and planter, the temptation of superior status for poor whites, the elaborate controls against the escape and rebellion, the legal and social punishment of black and white collaboration.”(Pg 30).
I felt again, that Zinn wrote an article that was an easy read, and that it yet again went against everything I have learned in school. We all learned that slavery was there, and that it was brutal, however I never knew the extent of the brutality when shipping them over seas. I was also never aware of the one out of three odds of survival, which I found rather disturbing. I also could agree with Zinn’s argument that slavery and racism is not natural that it is more of a created human choice and past historical circumstances instead. I feel that slavery was created based on the human’s selfishness to survive and to make money, which carried over into creating racism. Once slavery was adapted it was the cause of the hatred between blacks and whites, it is because of historical events that created today’s racism, everything branches back to slavery.