Black Capitalism isn’t the Solution…Socialism Is!!!

In the wake of the killing of George Floyd and the subsequent protests and calls for change that followed, an interesting solution was brought up and encouraged, the call to buy from black businesses. While black businesses are indeed a way to grow wealth for the black community they are in no way a solution to the broader source of oppression, not just for African Americans but for all members of the working class, that system being capitalism. In order to truly liberate the black community from the chains of racism, generational poverty, state oppression, and exploitation, it’s not enough to encourage the entrepreneurship of only a few people but to address it from a collective and anti-capitalist approach. Only with socialism will the black community truly be eliminated from the systemic racism created by capitalism.

When speaking about black entrepreneurship one is often met with rosy words of praise, all across the political spectrum, even so called “progressives” and “intersectional feminists” gush at the idea of buying from black owned businesses (BOBs). But let us not be fooled, small businesses are not inherently better than corporate behemoths, and in fact can and usually are worse for workers than larger businesses, usually offering worse benefits, lower wages, and being exempt from worker protections. This isn’t a defense of big business but a…