Racial capitalism is an abstract idea created by Cedric J. Robinson in his 1983 book, “Black Marxism: The Making of the Black Radical Tradition.” In the book, he describes racial capitalism as the act of extracting social and economic value from a person of an alternative racial identity, typically a person of color. To understand racial capitalism and how it has come to be, one must consider the relationship that capitalism has to colonialism. In the following column, I dive deep into the foundation of racial capitalism and the way it presents itself both in historical and contemporary situations. I will then gather aspects of this theory that show what white allies can do about it.

Capitalism stems from colonialism. First of all, the imperialist culture of colonialism created an environment where the theft of indigenous lands and others’ property was positioned as justified. National Geographic writes, “Colonial powers justified their conquests by asserting that they had a legal and religious obligation to take over the land and culture of indigenous peoples.” Because of that, the capitalist system was founded on stealing Indigenous crops and resources while enslaving people of color. From this came global trade — not just of resources, but people too. Robinson’s book explains how “slave labor persisted for 300 years following the emergence of modern capitalism.” Capitalism furthered the oppression of Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) by prioritizing commodities over their livelihood while simultaneously treating these people as commodities themselves. From this emerged the concept of racial capitalism.

Racial capitalism connects the histories of slavery and colonialism with the modern materialization of Black identities. The concept of racial capitalism explains how racial domination and the commodification of BIPOC has existed since slavery, persisting through social and economic inequality. In an interview with Vox, Nancy Leong, a law professor at the University of Denver, discussed the contemporary commodification of BIPOC. Leong explained racial capitalism as “the process of getting some sort of social or economic benefit from someone else’s racial identity,” specifying that this involves white people in the United States using non-white racial identities to benefit themselves.

Leong mentioned common practices, like when a school or company intentionally puts photos of a non-white person on the front cover of brochures and websites to inflate its reputation of being “diverse.” Racial capitalism can also include microaggressions, such as someone saying “I can’t be racist because I have a Black friend,” or a tokenized character in a movie. These examples demonstrate the more contemporary commodification of BIPOC and the treatment of diversity as a form of branding — a practice that, as Leong puts it, “treats racial identity and diversity like commodities, which gives the impression that they are just like anything else you could buy or sell.”

So, what about this theory emphasizes the role of the white ally in dismantling this culture and supporting BIPOC? To start, as Dissent Magazine writers Michael Schulson and Samuel Bagg write, we must stop focusing on wealth and socioeconomic status when electing individuals to power positions. The way to challenge the norm that wealthy and high-status individuals are the ones more deserving of power is to elect more common folk to political positions — electing citizens based on the content of their agenda, irrespective of how high their status is. This will help to alter our subconscious and conscious beliefs of what a powerful person should look like. Another role the white ally might play in dismantling this culture is avoiding emphasis on the commodification of BIPOC in advertising. A white ally cannot use diversity as a brand to try to prove their allyship. They shouldn’t make non-white people feel useful for only some photos on a brochure. White allies should also resist the urge to justify potentially discriminatory or racist actions by citing any non-white friends of theirs. A white ally should not reap social and economic benefits from BIPOC as if their only worth is to serve white people.

Given the ways in which colonialism has caused a culture of selfishness, greed and lack of respect for others, it comes with no surprise that the concept of capitalism became so toxic. Overall, identifying and understanding racial capitalism opens up the eyes of white people to how they have contributed to such a culture, and, subsequently, how they can then help dismantle it — how they can be an ally.

Zoe Brusso is a sophomore majoring in philosophy, politics and law.