Cui Bono? and The Economic Function of Racism

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Abstract
General surveys of the economics of racism are plentiful, and many authors of articles and monographs on the economic position of Blacks begin with a short description of principal analytical and empirical works as a context for their own contributions. Most of these surveys, however, are limited to reviewing works in the tradition of neoclassical economics, and they often degenerate into minute discussions of techniques and findings. My intention here is to discuss various approaches to the economics of racism in a more general and comprehensive way and to show that each embodies a definite view about what group in white society benefits materially from economic racial discrimination. While individual authors occasionally recognize the implication of the use of a particular model for the cui bono? question, more often than not the issue is either ignored or subordinated to discussions about general economic loss or to apolitical policy proposals. 1 am convinced that the pattern of white material gain must occupy a central place in our understanding of racism if we are to act effectively to reduce or eliminate racism, for while I recognize that the economic aspect of racism is but one of a multi-faceted social and cultural phenomenon, I consider it to be the major one. Racism existed prior to the 16th and 17th century rise of capitalism and has survived capitalism in several places; that is, capitalism neither created racism nor is it a necessary condition for the existence of racism. 1 Nevertheless, under capitalism, racism (and virtually every other facet of social life) has assumed a distinctive historical form in which economic (commodity) relations predominate. Therefore, to complete the syllogism, the struggle against the economic aspects of racism is of primary importance for reducing racism in general, and the location of particular beneficiary groups is needed for this.

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