When one thinks of capitalism and monetary independence, the ability to hold high-limit credit cards may come to mind. Except the credit card giant American Express “invited the great-grandson of the Nation of Islam’s founder to tell its employees that capitalism is evil” reports the New York Post.
Jumping on the “critical race theory” training train, the credit card company, which made a whopping $2.3 billion profit just last quarter, thanks to capitalism, suggests its own practice is mere evil. The CRT training program asked workers to deconstruct their racial and sexual identities, and then rank themselves on a hierarchy of “privilege” according to the Post.
Such identity determinations would decide whether the trainee was an “oppressor” or the “oppressed” in given situations. One handout instructed white employees, “identify the privilege and advantages you have”; “don’t speak over members of the black and African-American community” and “it’s not about your intent, it’s about the impact you have on your colleague.”
White employees were also instructed not to say phrases such as “I don’t see color,” “we are all human beings” and “everyone can succeed in this society if they work hard enough.” All of these phrases were categorized as “microaggressions.”
At one anti-racism event the American Express executives invited Khalil Muhammad, the great-grandson of Nation of Islam founder Elijah Muhammad to give a lecture on “race in corporate America.” Muhammad said the system of capitalism was founded on racism and that “racist logics and forms of domination” have shaped Western society.
Muhammad encouraged executives to begin “the deep redistributive and reparative work” such as “lobby [the government] for the kinds of social policies that reflect your values.” As for race, Muhammad argued standards for black customers should be different and profits should be sacrificed in the interest of race-based reparations.
“If American Express cares about racial justice in the world, it can’t simply say that market’s going to define how we price certain customers, who happen to come from low-income communities” Muhammad said. “If you want to do good, then you’re going to have to set up products and [product] lines that don’t maximize profit.”
And what’s a modern-day ‘woke’ talk without suggesting reading Ibram Kendi, to “learn about covert white supremacy” and dedicate themselves “to the lifelong task of overcoming our country’s racist heritage.”
