Slavery, horrible as it always is, normally has little to do with "race". Slaves in Roman times, for example would have come in all colours, and so would slaveowners, and that would have been true in most societies where slavery has existed, or where it continues.

The peculiar feature of slavery as it was invented in the wake of the European seizure of America, and more especially in the territory of the United States, was that slavery became totally tied in with notions about colour and "race".