Slavery was used way before race came into play. In those days they was Slaves because they were prisoners of war or they were in debt. They were not enslaved because of the way they looked or acted. According to PBS African slaves were never slaves because of there skin color but because of the work ethic and ability to work on the farms. Most of the most in Virginia were white indentured servants and worked along with the Africans. But, according to PBS laws were passed separating the white worker from the black workers. White people were made the overseers. This would all in all make them the slaves. So, race differently played a role in slavery because if it didn’t the whites would be the overseers.
Go Deeper on Race: Slavery predates race