My First Post

While I was reading about Equiano's experiences as a slave, I kept thinking back to my intro psychology course last semester.  There was a section about social psychology, which discussed racism and how it has a lot do to with not fully understanding something that is different from ourselves.  Obviously the Europeans and slave traders did not understand the Africans, but I don't think the Africans understood the Europeans and slave traders either.  

Equiano, for example, thought that they were magical, and were going to sacrifice him to keep the ship moving.  

But after such a long time together, Equiano became more and more like the Europeans.  He learned how to read and write, and even became baptized.  Many of his closest friends were free white men and women.  Why then, after so many years and so much evidence to disprove their misconceptions about each other, did slavery and racism continue?