Ravi Mistry explores the origins of racism within class society and explains the way forward in the fight against oppression and discrimination.
We publish here the latest video in the Marxist Student Federation’s Myths of Marxism series. In this episode, Ravi Mistry looks at the question of racism and its relationship to capitalism. To understand how we can combat racism, xenophobia, oppression, and white supremacy, we need to understand where it comes from.
As Ravi explains, the origins of racism lie within class society and capitalism, with the ruling class promoting and fomenting white supremacist ideology in order to justify slavery and colonialism. Today, xenophobia and bigotry are still used by the capitalists and their media mouthpieces in order to divide workers and discourage them from uniting against their common oppressors: the bosses, bankers, and imperialists.
As Malcolm X famously said: you can’t have capitalism without racism. The struggle against racial oppression and discimination is therefore a struggle against the capitalist system.
