Ride Together, Die Together: White Supremacist Capitalists for Life
White supremacy and capitalism are best friends. They work together to keep this country going. Soooo you can’t say that you’re working against white supremacy while also preaching about the importance of creating and building generational wealth.
The first European settlers brought capitalism with them initially through things like the tobacco trade. However, the real wealth for those settlers came when they began to participate in the slave trade. We now know that much of America’s wealth is directly connected to the unpaid labor of enslaved Africans and their descendants. According to Slavery’s Capitalism: A New History of American Economic Development, raw cotton made up over half of the nation’s exports in the first six decades of the 19th century. This raw cotton was almost all grown by enslaved Africans.
When we discuss the Civil War and the South not wanting to free their slaves, we also need to talk about the financial loss that came from freeing the slaves. We can’t simply focus on the racism that Black people were being subjected to because what those who fought for the Confederacy were also fighting for was their economic livelihood. The free labor of the enslaved helped them keep their costs down when it came to producing the cotton that was a large part of American capitalism. So, white supremacy and capitalism have always been in a symbiotic relationship. They’ve always fed off of one another in order to survive.
Many people overlook this friendship when discussing social justice work. People always challenge me to charge more money for my classes or speaking engagements, and I’ve been trying to figure out why this bothers me so much. But after having a few conversations with friends about why I pulled back from the work in the past, it finally hit me. I didn’t get into doing social justice work to become a millionaire. I don’t want to become a hoarder of wealth and resources. I don’t want to live excessively off of Black and Brown pain.
How can I teach about the dangers of white supremacy but ignore the fact capitalism is its best friend? And yet, how can I provide for my family without charging a reasonable price? These are the questions that flood my head when I’m trying to decide if I want to continue doing social justice work. I need to be able to do this work in a way that is both ethical and allows me to have the things I need and some of what I want.
If I’m honest, I’m not sure what that looks like because all around me I see people charging thousands of dollars to shout catch phrases or create anti-racist workshops that don’t actually help dismantle white supremacy. I watch them tout the new lifestyle they’ve been able to create — large houses, vacations, new cars, private education for their children and it tempts me. Maybe if I’d just say what those companies want to hear even though I know that it doesn’t truly change their work climate, I too can have all those things.
But do I want those things? I mean sure I’d like to own a nice house in a Black city with a decent-sized yard for my kids to run around. I’d love to be able to own a home and not worry about one car repair depleting my savings account. I’d like to be able to take my family on a nice vacation once a year without putting it on credit.
But how do I do those things ethically? How do I do these things in a way that respects the fact so many Black and Brown people are currently dying because they don’t have health insurance? Or are facing homelessness due to this pandemic?
Wealth empowerment and anti- white supremacy are opposing concepts. Pushing the “bootstraps” mentality from a feminist lens doesn’t make it different. It’s just gatekeeping capitalism while profiting from Black and Brown pain. It’s using your access to the proximity of whiteness in order to gain financial resources and unless you’re behaving like Robin Hood and taking from the rich to give to the poor, you’re no better than Bezos or Gates. Quite frankly, you’re exchanging anti-racist work for a chance to join the one percenters.
And look, I get it. I grew up poor and already live a life I didn’t think was possible as a child. My children have never known the level of poverty I experienced at their age and I work hard to make sure they don’t. I also have a massive amount of student loan debt I don’t want my children to have to experience. But I also don’t want them to not know what it’s like to have to work for the things you want in life. And yet, my ultimate goal isn’t to make them trust fund kids. Because what makes your trust fund kid different from all the others? Is it because you’ve taught them about white supremacy and racism? But what about capitalism? How do you create trust fund kids who actively work against capitalism?
I don’t have the answers to these questions. I’m still working through so many of these ideas myself. I just know I want to live my values, and if I’m talking about the harm white supremacy causes to the most marginalized then I need to include capitalism. And if I include capitalism, I need to question how I participate in the system and help it continue to grow.
And hey, maybe you just want to end racism. If that’s your ultimate goal, I’m not really sure how it’ll happen without also dismantling capitalism. However, I will respect you for living those values. Just know that being able to give your Black child a trust fund doesn’t help the Black and Brown children in the inner-cities of Detroit, Chicago, St. Louis, and New York. And be honest with yourself and your audience because transparency matters, right?
As for me, if I ever have enough disposable income, I won’t be starting a trust fund for my children. I’ll be opening a coffee shop with a library inside. We’ll have spaces for mamas to write and offer low cost/free activities for their children. It’ll be a coworking space specifically for mamas who need time to write but want their little ones close just in case.
What would you do with a big chunk of disposable income that doesn’t involve hoarding it?
Resources Used: The Clear Connection Between Slavery and American Capitalism American Capitalism is Brutal. You Can Trace That To the Plantation. It Came in the First Ships: Capitalism in America
