When European peoples were exploring and colonizing the globe, they developed racial classification systems and ideologies allowing them to conclude that

• A. non-European peoples were inferior
• B. white-skinned people deserved their power around the world
• C. all races are equal in power
• D. racial lines were irrelevant to colonization

Answer: (B)

Racial ideologies were used to justify power and domination, shaping who could rule and who could be ruled during exploration and colonization. The belief that white Europeans were superior provided a morally and politically persuasive basis for claiming global authority, governing lands, exploiting resources, and imposing systems that favored European interests. This entitlement—white-skinned peoples “deserving” power around the world—was framed as a civilizing mission: bringing civilization, religion, and order to other parts of the world, which made conquest appear legitimate.

Other ways of thinking in the options don’t fit as well. Claiming that non-European peoples were inferior describes a bias about others but doesn’t capture the explicit assertion of rightful global power by whites. Saying all races are equal in power contradicts the very premise of domination. Saying racial lines were irrelevant to colonization ignores the historical role race played in organizing governance, labor, and social hierarchy under imperial rule.