The privatization of anti-racism

…Or, how the state institutions were sacked and all we got was this suspect philanthropist funding anti-racism projects.

In this second episode of this week’s “On the Barricades”, hosts Maria Cernat and Boyan Stanislavski continue the discussion that began on the issue of racism toward the Roma population in Eastern Europe, who were the first victims of the transition to capitalism, and yet whom are blamed for myriad social problems by the victims living next door. The very understanding of racism is obscured by fake solutions that lay claim to anti-racism as a boutique careerist project of endless grant-application writing to the oligarchs who fund them, therefore ensuring that no one brings up the class aspect. Connected to racist attitudes are often frustrations about a breakdown of the state institutions that took place in Eastern Europe during the transition. But this is not something to be overlooked in analyzing this question of who lost out, and who is really to blame.

Find the first episode in this week’s show here: