Activist and journalist Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor kicks off a discussion at Occupy Chicago on the history and politics of racism and the fight against racism in Chicago today.

According to Taylor Capitalism depends on racism both as a source of profit and as a means to divide and rule the 99%, who otherwise have everything in common and reason to organize and fight together in virtue of performing the labor that is the source of the 1%’s wealth. For this reason, anti-racists must take up a critique of capitalism and put forward a credible strategy for ending it– and in turn any credible strategy for the 99% must take up the anti-racist struggle, which US history has proven to be a motor capable of driving forward the level of consciousness and struggle of the entire working class. Chicago has a long and storied history of anti-racism, but remains one of the most segregated cities in the US.

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