Capitalism, Class, and the Matrix of Domination

In “Capitalism, Class, and the Matrix of Domination,” Allan Johnson’s thesis is that the economy and capitalism have much to do with white racism and the repercussions of such a concept.

Johnson explains that white racism appeared along with the expansion of capitalism as an economic system, playing a major role in white privilege. The main goal of capitalism has always been to turn money into more money. Many are willing to do whatever it takes to reach this goal, including anything from causing pollution, increases of tobacco and alcohol usage, or using slavery. Since capitalists today have to pay their workers for their time and production, they often look to hire those in minority groups. Those who are in these minority groups or of a lower class end up having to work for such capitalists because they have no other choice. The fact is that they work for low pay and earn as much of a living as they can or just do not work at all. Capitalists have no problem with this, as they aim to have a higher production without paying as much. In addition, another new strategy to improve production is to move it to outside countries in which people are willing to work for less. With 10% of the American population holding more than two-thirds of the wealth, these “patterns of inequality result from and perpetuate a class system based on widening gaps in income, wealth, and power between those on top and everyone below them.” This fact causes a form of racism (and sexism) that is hard to ignore when it’s all around us in our economy, both in the past and in the present.

I agree with Johnson in that whites seem to have “developed the idea of whiteness to define a privileged social category elevated above everyone who wasn’t included in it” in order to justify their oppression of lower classes. We feel as though we are superior to other classes and that we will prosper above them in the working world. This is evident in the world today as well as everyday life. Although it is not allowable to hire based on race, we see such occurrences all the time. Not only are whites more commonly hired for higher positioned jobs, but lower classes are hired for jobs that come with less pay. As Johnson states, “The oppressed condition of blacks and other racial minorities encourages them to work for wages that are lower than what most whites will accept.” We think that just because we are white means that we are above the rest in standards, no matter our income.

I think this article was a reputable one in that it explains what many of us are afraid to admit. We don’t see the reality that we are able to acquire better jobs and lifestyles merely because of the fact that our skin is white. This has been embedded in our heads from past generations and seems to be all we know. And since this racism had much to do with other means of oppression, it may never be erased. As Johnson ends his piece, “We won’t get rid of racism, in other words, without doing something about sexism and classism, because the system that produces the one also produces the others and connects them.”