Racial hierarchy
White supremacy
Some experts[who?] believe that the material basis for white supremacy does not come from an idea of European superiority. They believe that the actual basis of white supremacy is "in a system of white-skin privileges, a system of preferences for white labor and other white people in employment, land usage and ownership, housing immigration, and society generally." Other experts[who?] believe that there are three pillars of white supremacy. The first pillar is "slaveability/anti-Black racism, which is all based on the idea that Black people were made to be slaves and that they are property. One theory explains that in a capitalist system, workers become commodities. In this theory, a racial hierarchy is used to give non-black races a chance to avoid being commodified in the capitalist system. Black people are at the bottom of this hierarchy and other races are relieved that they are not at the bottom. The second pillar is genocide. This pillar states that non-indigenous people should eliminate the indigenous race in order to stake claim to the indigenous people's land. This pillar is an example of colonization. The last pillar's focus is on orientalism, which establishes that certain groups of "foreign people" are menaces to a society or empire. These pillars not only victimize minorities but also make them become part of the supremacy as each of the pillars explained singles out one particular group. In this way, all other groups can share in the fact that they are not part of the specific group being discriminated against. White supremacy functions through all three of these pillars or logics. Binaries like the Black-White binary and the indigenous-settler binary also play a significant part in white supremacy as any race can find themselves closer to one of the sides of the binary and possibly get discriminated against or avoid discrimination altogether. For example, if a Native American had a lighter skin complexion, the fact that he/she is closer to the white side of the Black-White binary makes it possible for them to avoid discrimination because they are closer to being white than black.
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