In the history of the world as we know it, there was a brief period of time when some Western European nations developed superior technology in comparison to the rest of the World allowing them a relatively brief period of colonial expansion.
This period had been preceded by the buildup of empires and countries for most of recorded history and possibly prior to it.
Its sort of our nature, get an advantage and use it to exploit others.
It comes and goes and while to some degree the West retains certain technological and industrial advantages, it has mostly leveled out.
Because of that brief period of Western expansion and the need for cheap labor, a particular type of slavery emerged when African Black people were exploited, and transported to a new country. This led to a belief that the white owners were somehow superior to the black slaves.
The only basis for this was the firepower one side possessed. Still the myth persists in western culture.
This belief that certain people, generally white, must maintain leadership or else, plays out in sometime direct and other times subtle ways.
There is no basis for it although to some extent many descendants of slaves still face social and economic problems, partly because of ongoing discrimination that forced them into lower paying jobs and worse neighborhoods.
It is fading and will naturally disappear eventually. Eventually is however not of much use to someone who is discriminated today.
The last four years allowed a revival of this white supremacy belief and hopefully was one of its last gasps. However last gasps are dangerous and one of our parties seem to have embraced its believers as a core constituency.
I have faith that the vast majority of Americans will reject this concept. I hope I'm right.
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