The Racial Contract

by

Charles W. Mills

The slavery contract is one part of the historical racial contract, in which white Europeans gave themselves the right to legally enslave non-white people (especially African and American Indian people) based on the idea that they were inherently inferior to white people.
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Slavery Contract Term Timeline in The Racial Contract

The timeline below shows where the term Slavery Contract appears in The Racial Contract. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1, Part 2: The Racial Contract is a historical actuality
Global White Supremacy Theme Icon
In “the slavery contract,” courts gave white people the legal right to hold Native American and African people... (full context)
Chapter 2, Part 2: The Racial Contract norms (and races) the individual, establishing personhood and subpersonhood
Global White Supremacy Theme Icon
Cognitive Distortion and White Ignorance Theme Icon
Racism’s Historical Evolution Theme Icon
These societies have applied different versions of the racial contract (the expropriation contract, the slavery contract, and the colonial contract) to different categories of non-white people. Meanwhile, white people identify... (full context)
Chapter 2, Part 4: The Racial Contract has to be enforced through violence and ideological conditioning
Global White Supremacy Theme Icon
...genocide in the Americas and Australia, launching brutal wars in Africa and Asia, and imposing slavery on millions of people. European forces removed non-white people from their land (in the expropriation... (full context)