I agree with the above posts about racism. I would just add that the use of racism in this country by moneyed elites really started with the Europeans' treatment of the native people's of the Western Hemisphere. They actually did try to use them as slaves (before they got the idea to bring people from Africa for that purpose), but it was too easy for the Native Americans to escape and never be seen again. They chose African peoples precisely because they had no history on this continent and would be easier to prevent from escaping and hiding, and because they couldn't blend in with the rest of the people of European origin, as escaped indentured servants of European origin could, because of the color of their skin.

All of which shows us just how arbitrary are the distinctions that are made by those who subscribe to racist ideas about people.