Racism: part of the capitalist system

REVOLUTION does not believe that racism is just part of human nature. If that were true, there would be no point in fighting back against all the injustice that racism causes. Instead, we believe that racism is part and parcel of the capitalist profit system.

The nations that make up the Western world created empires that spanned the globe. They conquered large parts of Africa, South America, and other places.

The rich businessmen that ruled America made millions and millions of dollars from these colonies. They stole food, minerals, and precious stones. They enslaved millions of Africans and transported them to America and the West Indies in the slave trade. They forced millions of Africans and Indians to work for very low wages, and they made enormous profits as a result.

When the victims of this system fought back, the armies of oppression crushed them using the best weapons technology could create. For years they steadfastly refused to meet the demands of the colonial peoples for independence.

At home, the ruling classes tried to present themselves as democrats and “good Christians,” but in the empires they created, the people were denied any rights at all.

To justify this, the capitalists developed the ideas of modern racism.

To explain why the colonialists had the “right” to trade in slaves as if they were cattle, and to kill them like animals, they had to pretend that black people were not really human.

Theories started to appear suggesting that black people were really closer to apes than humans. These lies became very deep-rooted; we still hear echoes of these sick ideas in racist taunts in the playground and the classroom today.

Books claiming to be “scientific” appeared in the 1800s trying to “prove” that black people were inferior.

This was the same as the books circulated by the Nazis which argued that Jews were “subhuman.” The same arguments appear today in the writings of US psychologists who claim that black people are “naturally” less intelligent.

It is all lies. It is nothing more than an excuse for oppression and mass murder.

The empires of Britain and France came to an end in the years after the Second World War. Today – with a handful of exceptions – neither rules over its old colonies directly. But Britain, along with France, America, and other prosperous advanced countries, still has the main say in the running of the former colonies.

Big Western companies decide what is produced and where. They force whole countries to produce things for the West, not for themselves. The former colonies have to pay off massive debts to the Western banks, which keeps them stuck in terrible poverty.

The “advanced” countries are still imperialists, exploiting the Third World, and keeping millions below the poverty line. The former colonies are independent in nothing more than name: they are semi-colonies.

And how do the imperialists explain away the terrible poverty and suffering that their system causes? Through racism, of course.

They blame it all on the people of Africa, India, and elsewhere for their “backwardness,” “laziness,” “corruption,” and so on. And when people try to escape from this awful situation and come to the West, they keep them out with racist laws.

That is why we say that capitalism created racism and keeps it going today. Racism is the capitalists’ excuse for hundreds of years of crimes against black people.

Divide and rule

There is another reason why the capitalists spread racist ideas: to keep the working class divided.

It’s simple if you think about it. The capitalists have to blame somebody for all the problems their system creates. So they blame the victims. Black people become the scapegoats for the ills of capitalism.

These ideas can take a hold, because many white workers want to keep themselves “one step above” their black brothers and sisters.

Slightly higher wages, slightly better chances of getting a job or promotion, slightly better housing, all these things – according to racist ideas – need to be defended against the claims of black people.

But the cost of defending the racist system is high for white workers too. Racist ideas weaken the struggles of all workers, including whites.

One report from American experts proved that where black workers suffer discrimination or lower wages than whites, the bosses will use this to push down all wages. In areas where there is less discrimination, wages of all workers will tend to be higher. Unity is strength.

Some black activists believe that white workers are so corrupted by racism that there is no chance of a united fight against the system. Instead they argue for a separate black struggle against racism. This is understandable given the long history of racism in America and the racist heritage of the labor movement. But separatism is no answer to this.

Black people make up a small portion of the entire US population. This is just not enough to overthrow the root cause of racism: the capitalist system and the state that defends it. But the working class as a whole – black and white – makes up the overwhelming majority of the population. United in struggle the working class could bring the whole racist system crashing down.

We have to build up a revolutionary youth movement and a new revolutionary working-class party to unite black and white workers in the fight for:

• An end to all discrimination in housing, education, and jobs.

• Organized self-defense against police, racist, and fascist attacks.

• Cancel the Debts of the Third World countries to Western banks.

• For a united working-class fight against the system that causes racism: the capitalist profit system.