Drawing the Color Line

I found the Zinn’s thesis to be, “So it is more than a purely historical question to ask: How did it [racism] start? — and an even more urgent question: How might it [racism] end? Or, t put it differently: Is it possible for whites and blacks to live together without hatred?” In this article Zinn first begins by stating how based on history the first known period where blacks and whites interacted with each other begun in North America. He goes on to state how the European settlers in Virginia was in great need of laborers. Zinn also states that the Indians “were tough, resourceful, defiant, and at home in these woods” where as the Englishmen needed to obtain slaves that were opposite the Indians. A group of people the Englishmen believed were less superior to them as well as the Indians. It came to be that black slaves were the perfect choice. Zinn states that blacks had been used as slaves by many other countries prior to the Virginians sailing out to obtain some. Also, the Englishmen believed that based on some African civilization at the time they were already using their own people as slaves. To the Englishmen, this meant it was ok for them too to use the blacks as slaves. Zinn tells of the journey from Africa to the Americas and how many Africans died a horrible death along the way. After this journey Zinn goes on to tell how the Africans adjustment to slavery in the Americas. Lastly, with the Africans adjusting and not all the Virginians agreeing with the slavery and attempting to aid black slaves in the escape. The white men sought out one way to prevent all the rebellious behavior and that was to free the white servants of their duties and provide them with bushels of corn, shillings, if they were a man they were provided with a gun, and lastly they were given land. This was to persuade them to side with the white men more and prevent them from siding and aiding the blacks.
I believe this article expressed its idea of where racism rooted from pretty well but at the same time I believe it begun with the Indians instead of Blacks. I do not understand why the Englishmen saw the Indians as being inferior to their race but it was blacks that racism supposedly rooted from. Based on the previous chapter by Zinn, it referred to how Indians were taken from their homes/environments to become slaves for Europeans but with this article it speaks of how blacks were taken from their homes/environments to become slaves for the Englishmen in the Americas. What made the slavery in the Americas different from the slavery in Europe? I mean I do understand the treatment may have been slightly harsher in America against the black slaves than the Indians in Europe but slavery is still slavery. As I was reading this article I felt as though there were some things I was learning for the first time and others I already knew. I thought it was a very interesting article with a great attempt in pin-pointing the root of racism. Although, I never knew of the connection the white servants had with the black slaves and their attempt to help each other. Also, I had always been under the impression that slavery with blacks/Africans begun in the United States. I did not know South America, the Caribbean, Portugal, and Spanish colonies enslaved Africans prior to Englishmen.