Why Say “Racial Capitalism” in 2021?

In a short presentation to the Post Capitalism Conference: Building the Solidarity Economy, Humboldt State University, April 25, 2021, Suren Moodliar joined a panel on the topic of "racial capitalism." Acknowledging the term's contested status, Moodliar nonetheless finds value in the term:

Toni Morrison describes “a friend of your mind,” as one who gathers the “pieces I am… and give them back to me in all the right order.” I am going to ask if racial capitalism is such a “friend of the mind”? My answer is not straightforward – I believe that the concept has questionable theoretical foundations, but that it was and could be an important political tool against certain practices and as a corrective against those who would frame capitalism as an abstract system that eventually de-racializes itself.  [read the presentation here]