With the invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney in 1793, the stage was set for the establishment of the most exploitative and degrading social system ever forced upon one race by another.  This system, whose purpose was to ensure whites the unencumbered enjoyment of vast profits, depended for its smooth operation on the total suppression and denial of black people’s humanity.  Toward this end, an elaborate set of legal codes was adopted by the various state legislatures and individual cities and communities, each designed to impress upon the slaves the utter futility of any thought__not to mention attempt__ of ever rising above their status as powerless and voiceless pieces of merchandise…