Plantation owners in America often argued that the Africans they imported were better off as slaves because they didn't have the mental capacity to run their own lives. Today, this seems both racist and crazy. How could such racist beliefs flourish?

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The belief that Africans were better off as slaves was propagated by plantation owners and other white elites who benefited from the labor of enslaved Africans. This belief justified the social arrangement between dominant and minority groups and allowed plantation owners to exploit the labor of enslaved Africans. Furthermore, this belief was used to justify slavery for centuries, even after science had shown that all humans are of the same mental capacity. Therefore, the idea that Africans were better off as slaves was a way to maintain social and economic power for the ruling class.

Plantation Owners in America Often Argued That the Africans They