A History of the Concept of Race (original) (raw)
2021, Science for the People
We find ourselves today at the intersection of global crises: an irreversible capitalist economic crisis, an ecological catastrophe engulfing the planet, a deadly viral pandemic, and the threat of resurgent fascism throughout the world. Undergirding the structures and institutions of American society is the intensifying white supremacy produced and reproduced by US policymakers representing the interests of the multi-billionaire investor class—from the origins of North American capitalism in settler colonialism, genocide, and chattel slavery, to centuries of rebellion, reform, reaction, state violence and terror. White supremacy—infused throughout all material and ideological forms of society and humanity’s relations with nature—was and is an essential strategic tool of capitalist rule. The present urgency is driven by the recognition that a significant segment of the governing circles of the United States seems willing to abandon the traditional flawed but democratic forms of governance in favor of harsh autocratic rule. The multiracial struggles around Black lives, climate change, and the unequal burden of the raging COVID-19 pandemic have revealed the deepening economic inequality and racial and gender oppression that have become commonplace in a capitalist system that cannot survive without discrimination. In the twenty-first century we have the opportunity to take this historic intellectual and political struggle to its resolution—to abolish the capitalist system that requires white supremacy.
Sign up for access to the world's latest research.
checkGet notified about relevant papers
checkSave papers to use in your research
checkJoin the discussion with peers
checkTrack your impact
Loading Preview
Sorry, preview is currently unavailable. You can download the paper by clicking the button above.