Arguably, both racism and anti-racism are forms of prejudice—and this means they transcend economics.
In the wake of the brutal murder of George Floyd, the Polish-Nigerian political scientist, Remi Adekoya, penned a reflective article on the Black Lives Matter movement. In the article, Adekoya defended a quasi-Marxist perspective on extirpating anti-black racism. At the heart of his argument is the notion that anti-black racism is the direct result of a lack of respect for the black community, on the basis of economic disempowerment. Black polities and communities are, by many estimations, amongst the most impoverished in the world and Adekoya highlights how ‘a disproportionate wealth and power gap is not conducive to balanced race relations’. Whilst this argument is compelling at face value, the monocausal and bourgeois ideology behind it is far too simplistic; the argument lacks the very apposite social-psychological comprehension of racism that gives anti-racism its counteractive force. Arguably, both racism and anti-racism are forms of prejudice—and this means they transcend economics.
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