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Racial capitalism describes the exploitation of racialized identities for economic gain. Under racial capitalism, race and economic systems are inseparable (EBESCO 2025, Robinson 2000).
The term “racial capitalism” was coined by Cedric Robinson in his book, Black Marxism. Robinson writes a history of capitalism’s development to reveal how it has always been entrenched in racist, hierarchical social organizations. Robinson describes the development of capitalism out of feudalism, the medieval European economic system based on hierarchical land ownership (Robinson 2000). Robinson describes how, during this transition, “racialism and its permutations persisted, rooted not in a particular era but in the civilization itself” (Robinson 2000). In other words, racial capitalism is inherent to our social and economic structure. The term thus represents how capitalism is racialized and exploitative; “racial capitalism is the process by which people secure some form of value from the racial identities of others” (EBESCO 2025).
Cedric Robinson, author of Black Marxism, speaking in 2006
In America, racial capitalism is historically rooted in slavery and free economic gain through the oppression of black bodies: “racism played an essential role in the rise of capitalism as the dominant economic theory in the United States” (EBESCO 2025). Contemporary markets perpetuate racism through wage and opportunity discrimination (EBESCO 2025).
(left) “Bow down to money” from A Ramble Round the Globe with Illustrations published by Chatto & Windus (1894).
The Connection Between Racial Capitalism and Human Trafficking
Racial capitalism contributes to human trafficking by creating a class of vulnerable people. The Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, (OMCPT 2021), describes how “human traffickers disproportionately target those in positions of socioeconomic or political vulnerability due to discriminatory policies, who are often people of color or part of a racial minority;” this is corroborated by Sarah Williams’ research on “Globalization as a Racial Project,” which articulates how “much of the research on minority victimization in human trafficking notes that it is a compounding of vulnerabilities through discrimination and marginalization in multiple areas which places them at a high risk of trafficking (Williamson 2017, OMCPT 2021). Compounding factors include economic vulnerability created by bias in hiring/firing and systemic generational poverty upheld by capitalism’s racist origins, (Robinson 2000, OMCPT 2021). (statistic from graphic on the left: Our Rescue 2024)
Racial capitalism is also destructive to social support networks, because the economic vulnerability it creates can disrupt families and communities. This results in the “overrepresentation of Black individuals in other systems, like prisons, runaway and homeless youth services, and foster or institutional care, that exacerbate the social isolation and vulnerability on which traffickers prey” (OMCPT 2021).
(left) Demonstrators at a silent march to end stop and frisk racial profiling and other racially-disproportionate policing in New York City.
Racial capitalism also contributes to human trafficking through bias and incarceration. It creates a “hierarchical global structure… which prioritizes the worth and status of certain people over others” (Williamson 2017). This hierarchy defines who is fought for or ignored within trafficking systems: “advocates, survivors, and other experts have found that ingrained racial biases and stereotypes, which were created as a way to dehumanize certain racial communities to justify their exploitation and exclusion, hinder progress in anti-trafficking efforts because they lead to racially disparate assumptions about who is a trafficker and who should have access to victim protection and services” (OMCPT 2021, Williamson 2017). Racial bias creates unequal distribution of anti-trafficking resources, and affects who is considered “credible,” a “victim,” or a “criminal” in the justice system. Black people are overpoliced and overcriminalized, which limits victims’ willingness to seek out law enforcement for help (OMCPT 2021).
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