End of slavery fueled racism

I am not quite sure if I read Benjamin Reiss’ article correctly, but the way I interpret it is that Freak shows or entrepreneurs of the freak show like P.T. Barnum helped fuel racism. I think that Reiss has made a valid point, but it seems the article gives way too much credit to freak shows for establishing a base which racism extended. I think the ending of the Civil War fueled racism and helped further define what racism is.  Here is my simple breakdown of racism and the Civil War:

 Blacks are slaves, because they are inferior, they are inferior because they are black. The Civil War ended slavery. Black codes were enacted and the KKK was born.  Radical reconstruction helped form the Jim Crow Laws and re-emergence of the KKK.

I agree that through freak shows, many of the “colored freaks” were subjected to the “modern disciplines of scientific and mass-cultural scrutiny.” And as Reiss mentioned, the whole process, “set in place some of the underlying conceptual structures of racism for the next two centuries.” Again I agree; however, I think many of the events that resulted from the end of the Civil War or more specifically the ending of slavery—Emancipation Proclamation or the Thirteenth Amendment—had equal weight if not more in contributing to the oppression of African Americans. Therefore, I think the Civil War and its consequences were worthy of at least mentioning. So one could say the whole process (The Civil War and the events that followed) set in place some of the underlying conceptual structures of racism for the next two centuries. And then mention that freak shows and their contribution to Science indirectly or even directly reinforced such underlying conceptual structures of racism. Slavery was no longer legal at the end of the Civil War, and racism became more developed , a complex term with many connotations. Why did racism develop? It needed to in order to keep African Americans oppressed, and to act as a replacement for slavery. Racism was a means to oppress, a tool. Science was used as further justification to oppress; therefore it contributed to racism. I think the structure that racism rested on in the United States was the Emancipation Proclamation.

Domalski, Josh