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74 \f Whit e Privileg e an d Blac k Despai r affirmative action . T o asser t th e contrar y i s aki n t o assertin g tha t fre e wage labo r i s irrelevan t t o a n analysi s o f ho w certai n earl y American s accumulated wealth . Slaves accumulated nothing , being property with n o rights t o property . Slaver y mad e al l blacks—whethe r classifie d a s slave , mulatto, o r "free"—th e subject s o f whites , n o matte r wha t thei r eco nomic status . B y la w o r custom , th e poores t whit e wa s superio r t o an y black. Furthermore, the policies that replaced forma l slaver y continued t o reinforce blacks ' caste position . INVENTING AMERICA N SLAVER Y The racia l histor y of blacks an d white s i n what i s now the Unite d State s includes s o man y shockin g episode s tha t i t i s littl e wonde r tha t som e historians hav e trie d t o gloss over it . I t i s beyond th e scop e o f this boo k to describ e th e captur e o f eac h slave , th e condition s o n th e slav e ships , the breaku p o f slav e families , slav e lif e o n th e plantations , slav e rebel lions , o r th e emergenc e o f domesti c slav e breeding . Tha t ha s alread y been done . However, a look at Virginia, the hom e of George Washingto n and Thoma s Jefferson, reveal s ho w white privileg e an d blac k cast e wer e established durin g th e colonia l period . T o b e sure , ther e wer e man y variations, dependin g o n th e region 11 a s wel l a s th e numbe r o f slaves , mulattoes, o r fre e black s i n th e are a compare d wit h tha t o f whites : Virginia "pioneere d a lega l proces s tha t assure d black s a uniquel y de graded status—on e i n whic h crueltie s o f slaver y an d pervasiv e racia l injustice wer e guarantee d b y it s law . Jus t a s [othe r colonies ] emulate d other aspect s o f Virginia's policies , man y colonie s woul d als o follow Vir ginia 's leadership i n slavery law." n Fo r our purposes, th e Virginia experi ence provide s a n ampl e illustratio n o f th e emergenc e o f "th e peculia r institution" o f slaver y an d wha t was , in essence , th e mos t extrem e for m imaginable of affirmative actio n for whites.13 In 1619 , John Rolf e (o f Pocohanta s fame) , th e secretar y an d recorde r of Virginia, wrote that "ther e cam e t o Virginia a Dutchman o f Warre tha t sold u s twenty Negers. " 14 It i s unclear whethe r thos e first twent y black s were slave s o r indenture d servants , bu t mos t historian s agre e tha t thei r status wa s tha t o f indenture d servants. 15 Th e firs t Africa n American s "were liste d a s servant s i n th e censu s count s o f 162 3 and 1624 , an d a s late as 165 1 some blacks whose period o f service had expired wer e bein g assigned lan d i n much th e sam e way that it was being assigned t o whites who had completed thei r indenture." 16 White Privileg e an d Blac k Despai r \f 7 5 More important, i f these first black s were not slaves, then fo r at least a brief period durin g the seventeent h century , a less hegemonic, les s crue l relationship wa s possibl e amon g black s an d whites. 17 An d i f black s ini tially wer e indenture d servants...

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