Race and Imperialism

In reading about imperialism in Africa and Asia, I thought about how racism might have played a role. After the comparisons made last unit between serfdom and slavery, I specifically recalled Bacon's Rebellion in 1676 (more information here). Last year we learned about the rebellion and its after effects, one of them being a switch from indentured servitude to slavery. Although the rebellion included both groups of people, it became clear to colonists that it was much harder to oppress people who were of the same color, who spoke the same language. It was easier for servants to organize among themselves, but it also was a constant reminder to colonists that they were essentially enslaving their own "kind."

I bring up Bacon's Rebellion because it, perhaps unconsciously, involved race. Imperialism used race (or at least culture) as a justification. One need only point to Kipling's "The White Man's Burden" in which he calls the indigenous people, "Your new-caught sullen peoples,/ Half devil and half child." To begin with, "Your" is a possessive, obviously indicating some kind of ownership. "Caught" similarly indicates ownership, but also animalizes the people to some degree. You "catch" squirrels and small rodents. You don't "catch" people. "Half devil and half child" kind of speaks for itself.

I wonder, though, if, hypothetically the native Congolese or Egyptians or Chinese or Indians had looked similar to the imperializers, would there have been more dispute over imperialism? Would it have been harder to preach the "civilizing mission" propaganda to European civilians?

In this article, the author, Rodney D. Coates, points out how the race influences how "Race and color symbolism [emerge] in public discourse." It can be summed up in his assertion, " I would prefer to tell a white lie than a black one, be a white witch than a black one, practice white magic rather than black magic, be washed as white as snow than be as black as sin, and live in a white house with a white picket fence." He argues that "white" always connotes goodness, while black, yellow, red, and brown "are associated with being bad or evil." This, he says, "reflects a hierarchy of race in our society."

I'd be curious to know if this hierarchy of race was already intact during this second phase of imperialism or if it was indeed created at this point.