Brainstorm in progress: bear with me
My head exploded while reading Jackie Huggins' essay on the exploitation of Aboriginal Australian women between the wars. Never mind school: girls as young as ten were sent to be domestic labourers and farm workers. Reading her account, based on interviews with some of the surviving women, made me think this:
Racism (and other forms of bigotry) aren't motivated by hatred or ignorance, but by simple greed. Either getting as much work out of Certain People for as little money as possible, or keeping Certain People out of the labour market as much as possible. Can every manifestation of racism can be boiled down to an economic motive? Slavery, obviously, as well as its cousin indentured servitude. Unequal wages, obviously, including the exploitation of undocumented workers. Unfair hiring practices, obviously. Segregation, so that kids don't get as good an education and can't compete as effectively for jobs. The scapegoating of immigrants: ASIANS TAKES JOBS [sic], as a graffito visible near Parramatta station announced for years.
It's not hard to find economic motives lurking behind other forms of bigotry - unequal wages for women, opposition to gay marriage.
Does this make sense? Have I gone all Marxist here? Is this just one part of the whole shebang, or more an effect than a cause, or am I striking at the root of the problem?
Racism (and other forms of bigotry) aren't motivated by hatred or ignorance, but by simple greed. Either getting as much work out of Certain People for as little money as possible, or keeping Certain People out of the labour market as much as possible. Can every manifestation of racism can be boiled down to an economic motive? Slavery, obviously, as well as its cousin indentured servitude. Unequal wages, obviously, including the exploitation of undocumented workers. Unfair hiring practices, obviously. Segregation, so that kids don't get as good an education and can't compete as effectively for jobs. The scapegoating of immigrants: ASIANS TAKES JOBS [sic], as a graffito visible near Parramatta station announced for years.
It's not hard to find economic motives lurking behind other forms of bigotry - unequal wages for women, opposition to gay marriage.
Does this make sense? Have I gone all Marxist here? Is this just one part of the whole shebang, or more an effect than a cause, or am I striking at the root of the problem?