Mail & Guardian
Mail & Guardian

Systemic Racism

latest news & developments
ABSA

Building cathedrals for black business

A vision for the future needs to take the long view

  • Monde Ndlovu
5 min read
LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLORIDA – AUGUST 26: A general view of the court after the postponed game five of the first round of the NBA Playoffs between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Houston Rockets at The Field House at ESPN Wide World Of Sports Complex on August 26, 2020 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. The NBA announced the postponement of today’s games in response to the Milwaukee Bucks boycotting their game in protest against the shooting of Jacob Blake by Kenosha, Wisconsin police. (Kim Klement – Pool/Getty Images)
ADRIAN WOJNAROWSKI
Video

More than a game: NBA players in wildcat strike to protest racial injustice

In 1961, Bill Russell led his fellow Boston Celtics in refusing to play in an NBA game in protest of systemic racism. It happened again on Wednesday.

  • Refiloe Seiboko
6 min read
Fundamental injustice: The white majority of the working class in the US is by and large protected from capitalism’s instability, because African Americans bear the brunt of its effects. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP)
CAPITALISM

How racism is an essential capitalist tool

In the United States, the African American minority is capitalism’s ‘business cycle shock-absorber’

  • Richard D Wolff
8 min read
Ugandan police fired bullets and tear gas to disperse a crowd of protesters demanding the release of jailed MPs.
ANTI BLACKNESS

We were arrested in Uganda while protesting for black lives

White supremacy must be held to account if systemic anti-blackness is to be rooted out of society

  • Kelsey Nielsen
  • Caleb Okereke
5 min read
Renee Bach, an American missionary who moved to Jinja, Uganda at age 18. With no formal medical training, Bach started experimenting with medical procedures she’d learn from YouTube. (Image: wjct.org)
AFRICA

End voluntourism and the white saviour industrial complex

We need to dismantle the unequal systems we have upheld in Africa. Divesting from missionary tours is a good place to start

  • Rosebell Kagumire
5 min read
Helping hand: Nelisiwe Xaba’s performance lecture ‘Bang Bang Wo’ examines the baggage that comes with help. ( Stella Olivier/ The Centre For The Less Good Idea)
ART

The cyclical politics of help

Black women and trans artists are worthy of support but it should not come with terms and restrictions

  • Zaza Hlalethwa
5 min read