ABSTRACT
This chapter explains what motivated the colonial elite to construct the Racism Machine, reinforcing the key concept that the construction of this Machine was not inevitable. Believing that race is biological becomes a convenient way to support the status quo. The false ideology that race is biological serves to divert people from recognizing the persistence of racism. Historian David R. Roediger focuses more on the relatively recent development of race and racism. Several Virginia colonial laws reveal examples of the gradual lead-up to the construction of the Racism Machine. In 1705, Virginia passed a series of laws referred to as the "slave codes". These laws were pivotal in legalizing racialized slavery. The slave code established a system of racialized chattel slavery, meaning slaves were property, "real estate", and this system became one of the most fundamental parts of the Racism Machine.
