Race, Racism, and International Relations from a Marxist Standpoint
One critique is very commonly dished out as a way to dismiss Marxism as a whole, especially on the left; that is, the critique that Marxism is somehow “class reductionist.” While this may have been the case for some Marxists, this stance of reducing all prejudices and forms of oppression to “class” is not Marxist at all. Rather, Marxists should strive to explain these types of oppression and relate them to history, pointing out their origins, their relations to class and how they have come about and changed over time. Reducing all issues to class is to dismiss the fight against capitalism itself, as will be later shown to be the case. Having said that, we may begin to thus analyze race and racism from a Marxist lens, pointing out why they are central to the capitalist society as a whole, and what historical origin the modern concept of race is based on.
Firstly, race, in its modern understanding, is a concept that originated in the very first era of capitalism, that is, mercantilism. During the so-called “Age of Discovery,” colonialism was the driving force behind accumulating capital. Therefore, the infrastructure of colonial societies was based on the exploitation of one people over another, and that domination could not simply be infrastructural (i.e based merely on economic relations), rather, society also needed an ideology supporting this base; that is, a superstructure whose function was that of upholding the notion of inequality between peoples. As such, race was the perfect tool to uphold a society in which different groups from different ethnicities were unequal. By lumping them all together in one group of people naturalized as inferior socially (black people, for example), one could exert more power over them not only by means of the violence of the State, but also by means of social prejudice towards certain groups considered inferior.
Humanity was thus divided between those who bore the right to exist and to those reduced to mere animals — those who could not affirm their very existence, as it was seen as either a product (during slavery) or as a less-than-being relegated to the worst types of jobs (as of nowadays. Thus this second division received the lowest salaries and, most of the time, remained in the reserve army of labor indefinitely; that is, remaining formally unemployed, which leads to higher competition for the same low-paying manual labor jobs, which allows for the bourgeoisie to pay even less for the same profession, and, therefore, to profit even more. This structure of violence, however, was not limited to one singular place: rather, colonialism was the very first “International System” to be brought about, and so was its superstructural counterpart (racism) widespread as to uphold that system psychologically and socially. Hence, racism is not merely a result of class warfare, but also a part of the global structure of capitalism since its very inception, and is indeed thoroughly related with class, but not merely reducible to it. We can point out its historical origin and how racism changed alongside capitalism to fulfill a social function of oppression, but we cannot merely state that capitalism determines racism.
That being the case, colonialism should never be excluded from any discussions regarding Marxism. To do so is to adopt a stance that dismisses history, and thus, that ditches out historical and dialectical materialism for dogmatism, and hinders any kind of analysis of modernity one may propose to do. As a clear example of that, if one does not factor in colonization and imperialism in their Marxism, self-determination of peoples and indigenous rights become fights not worth fighting, for these are not simply reducible to class. This is a vile mistake that leads to a Marxist philosophy that is not only exclusive but also works directly against worker's rights in the Global South, thus, disuniting workers globally rather than supporting internationalism. Racism, as a form of prejudice, does just as much to separate workers and spur infighting than undermine unifying efforts of separate workers of differing races. Communists should strive towards a truly multiracial movement, as is the case with syndicates like the IWW (Industrial Workers of the World) that bravely fights apartheid regimes and allows both black and white workers to fight united against capitalism.
However, one must also keep in mind that the structure of society is always changing, and as a consequence fighting the different forms under which racial prejudice, as well as other forms of prejudice, appear, is not a simple task. In the West, racism has changed constantly; from being rooted in religion (e.g. the mark of Cain being interpreted as black people having no soul), to pseudoscientific racism (e.g. phrenology), and to post-WW2 until nowadays. A more culturalist racism that appears to be “colorblind,” as it replaces any reference of race with culture and considers the concept of race “offensive” by means of a “graceful and generous liberal gesture”, as Robert Vitalis ironically states.
It is also worth noting that in different regions this structure of racism works differently. In most Latin American countries, such as in Mexico and Brazil, racial prejudice is based on the notion of total cultural and racial integration; intermarriage was regarded as positive for the genocide of non-white people. In South Africa and the US, however, racism was not supported by violent inclusion, but rather, violent exclusion; interracial marriage regarded as taboo and illegal, forceful segregation, which can all be boiled down to the motto “Separate but equal.” It should be noted, however, that all of these different forms of racism can appear in different societies and contexts, and that all of them are equally condemnable. Therefore, we should not strive to use the same strategies to combat racism, as one has to analyze the particulars to be able to properly grapple against it. We, as Marxists, instead should all be united against racism and against colonialism, no matter in which form it manifests itself.
However, as Marxists, we do not believe that mere anti-racist discourse is enough to uproot racism. In contrast, it is an international political system rooted in colonialism, which is itself found in the very origin of capitalism, so it cannot be destroyed without the destruction of the system that upholds it. Colonialism, as well, has not disappeared, it has only changed its form of operation. As the methodology of colonialism shifted throughout its lifetime from colonialism, to imperialism, to the New Imperialism of the 20th century, and ultimately to the modern day neoimperialism/neocolonialism, as did racism shift from religious to scientific to culturalist. The international division of labor has only morphed into a new version of itself, and the countries that were once colonies still continue being exploited all the same by their colonizers or by other colonial powers. Colonialism, thus, is still at the very core of global economy. Therefore, you can't have capitalism without colonialism, and “you can't have capitalism without racism,” as Malcolm X affirmed. Hence, the fight against racism and colonialism is interdependent with the fight against capitalism; one cannot support one and yet disregard the other. To do so is to stray further apart from Marxism's core tenets, as ignoring race is supporting an ahistorical analysis of capitalism that has little to do with historical and dialectical materialism.
In solidarity,
FurInform
