Racial Capitalism is alive and thriving in the United States, as well as almost everywhere in the world. Tracing its roots back to the so-called voyages of discovery; i.e. Europeans "discovering", conquering and enslaving non-white people around the world; racial capitalism turns humans, most notably non-white humans, into chattel.
Capitalism actually does this to all humans which is evidenced by the fact that corporations see humans as "resources". I don't want this fact to redirect our focus from the desperate need to address racial capitalism which has always plagued the US, but I believe that by looking at how capitalism works in a broader generalized population we can better understand its place in racial capitalism.
The definition of resource is "a stock or supply of money, materials, staff and other assets . . . ." Right in this definition, which is an internet definition but no different than any you are going to find anywhere, you see people listed as "assets". If you look up asset you will find that asset might mean being of value, as in "she is an asset to the team." You also find that it means "property owned by a person or company, regarded as having value and available to meet debts, commitents or legacies." Oh, my!! If a resource is an asset and an asset is property it follows that a resource is property and therefore you and I are all property of our employer and/or government. Does that make you feel good?
Now let's apply this to Racial Capitalism. For the white population our only awareness of being a resource is that we're getting poorer while the capitalist is getting richer. It is impossible for a white person to fathom how this plays out for non-white citizens, but consider this scenario: you're driving through a wealthy neighborhood and see a black man mowing the grass. How many people are going to assume that he's the gardener or an employee? Be honest. Even if you don't think of yourself as a racist, how many of you would make the same assumption. Are you surprised to find that it is his home?
In an Antipode Foundation video, which can be found on YouTube and is well worth watching (i), entitled Geographies of Racial Capitalism, Professor Ruth Wilson Gilmore points out that racism, slavery and capitalism go hand in hand. Our beloved capitalism developed and survives by the exploitation of people, especially non-white people.
If that isn't bad enough, according to the founder of Fascism, Benito Mussolini, when you combine capitalism and government you get Fascism. (ii) What was the result of Citizens United versus the Federal Election Commission? (iii) Ah, that's right. It permits wealthy capitalists and their corporations to put as much money into a political campaign as they wish. Now we have our politicians legally crawling into bed with the capitalists. Oh, my! What did Mussolini say? Fascism is the merger of capitalism and government. That means we have . . . dare I say it? . . . fascism right here in the USA.
Oh, but there's more. While racial capitalism exploits non-white citizens, our government - most specifically the president - has continually made the hatred and mistreatment of non-white citizens a matter of patriotism. Is it no wonder that a non-white journalist was arrested in Minneapolis while his white colleague was not.
Nancy Leong, in her 2013 article on Racial Capitalism in the Harvard Law Review, concluded "One colleague with whom I discussed this project observed that being a person of color within an institution means that “you’re going to get used,” and that the best and only response is to make sure you get as much as possible in return. But my own view is that racial capitalism is not inevitable. Ending racial capitalism may take a great deal of effort across generations, but in the end I think it can happen." (v) I wish that I could be as optimistic, but we must put every effort into making it happen starting with holding our government accountable and ending fascism (government + capitalism).
FOOT NOTES:
(ii) Mussolini, Benito and Giovanni Gentile. (1932). La dottrina del fascismo [the doctrine of fascism]. Enciclopedia Italiana.
(v) Loeng, Nancy. Racial capitalism. Harvard Law Review. Vol 126 Issue 8. June 2013. p. 2226.
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