Happy Black History Month, folks! The special month of February is a great time to reflect on current issues of race within the global community.
To narrow the gap in inequality between Black and white people, the narrative that Black entrepreneurship and ownership can bring about liberation has often been pushed in our media and culture. Take, for example, Jay-Z’s constant preaching that hustling can get you out of the hood and into a seat at the right table. Or, think about how many Black nail and lash techs you know or have seen advertised on social media. All over the Internet, we see stories of Black people who found success, broke out of the working class, and want to tell everyone that anyone can do it with some hard work and perhaps a bit of a savings account. The message is meant to be empowering and doesn’t sound bad in theory. Of course, Black individuals deserve monetary success just as much as anyone else. But could widespread financial prosperity within the Black community be transformational? Could it free Black people from the struggles of oppression?
Unfortunately, that would be unlikely. Here’s a quick (and simplistic) breakdown of the capitalist economic system for you: Economic systems in developed nations operate under a for-profit model. The system thrives when maximum profit is earned at a minimum cost. To cut costs, corporations, businesses, and/or governments try to minimize the amount they spend on labour.
Now, to understand the role of Black people in this system, know that marginalized groups often find themselves overrepresented in the lowest ranks of the labour force. So, Black people experience poverty at disproportionate rates. For reference, Statistics Canada reported that Black Canadians were over twice as likely to be a part of the “working poor” in comparison to white Canadians in 2011.
So, assuming we recognize that in developed states like Canada, statistics suggest that Black communities face economic disadvantages at disproportionate rates, we can begin to understand that those economic disadvantages correlate and perpetuate social ones. Racism and labour are deeply entwined. This explanation of labour and race only provides a shallow understanding of the relations between the topics.
It is within the capitalist system’s best interest to maintain current conditions or even exacerbate them to gain additional profit. The majority of the wealth in the world is shared amongst a minority population, sustained by a large working class. There is no way that “everyone can do it” because if everyone “did”, the market would collapse. Not because non-rich people are lazy, lacking in intelligence, or under-qualified. Under the capitalist system, there will always be poor people. Black and Brown people will likely remain overrepresented in the lower margins of the working class due to the influence race has on class structure.
Basically, at best, it’s mildly annoying and illogical to assert that anyone can achieve immense financial success. At worst, it’s heedless and even willfully misleading. When this notion comes from your average Joe who struck a bit of gold, it’s usually coming from a good place. These people should not be demonized. When Jay-Z says stuff like that… it’s probably to sell whatever it is he sold to become a Black billionaire, whether that be an ideal or a product.
This article seems so grim and the last thing I want to do during a month of celebration is be a downer. I want to stress that this article isn’t meant to suggest that the economic conditions cannot/will not improve over time for the Black community across the globe. Evidence would suggest the contrary. I would also caution against letting this reality consume you. There is (arguably) no clear solution to the problem. Although it affects just about every aspect of life, you have to find joy in the good in the world. Just remember, the idea that the solution to racial oppression is to attempt to become Tyler Perry-level rich feeds into a whole other oppressive system that should not be promoted.
Have all the successes! Don’t let your career define you. Do what you love because you owe it to yourself! Just make sure that while you do your thing, you’re also aware of the narratives surrounding the accumulation of wealth as a means to achieving Black liberation. Liberation will not coincide with a system fundamentally reliant on the continuance of the current economic conditions.