i don’t give a damn whether race or class came first, it honestly doesn’t matter.

within the amerikan context, race is the *primary* contradiction.

that’s just a fact.

there is truly no amerikan capitalism aside from amerikan racism b/c our capitalist system depends upon racist practices + racial hierarchies to survive.

who are the primary targets of racist practices & who sit at the bottom of the hierarchy?

blacks + natives.

yes, race & class:

frequently overlap [& often, intersect]; &
can be mutually reinforcing;

however, there is something that is too hard to explain with just a simple class analysis about blackness + indigeneity.

[racial] capitalism isn’t an economic system that expresses white supremacy, [racial] capitalism is white supremacy as expressed as an economic system.

modern day [racial] capitalism is an extension of the logics of european feudalism, not its termination.

the social, cultural, political, ideological complexes of european society broadly along with racial, tribal, linguistic, & regional expressions of european feudalism were translated into the capitalist mode of production. [s/o cedric robinson]

so, it cannot be the case race within the amerikan context was merely a justification for class domination.

no, race was a justification for the exploitation, expatriation, & extermination of entire classes of non-european (read: non-white) human beings.

even *if* race was merely a justification for class domination within amerika, race has still established its own relative operating autonomy to some considerable degree.

amerikan racism is so perverse, pervasive, & advanced as a social construct, it may act independently of class considerations within the amerikan context.

amerikan racism is neither dissolved nor subordinated by class considerations, but instead it structures & articulates class relations.

thus, amerikan racism possesses some specific class qualities that are neither reducible to nor distinguishable from one’s relationship to material resources or the factors of production.

anti-blackness & anti-indigeneity predates racial capitalism b/c both skin color & ethnicity were already established as ways groups of people were organized.

that said, racial capitalism streamlined anti-blackness & anti-indigeneity.

it took localized oppression & globalized it under the banner of white supremacy.

that’s racial capitalism’s main contribution, ESPECIALLY within the so-called united states of amerika.