The Origins of Racism
What is racism? Who are its victims? Who benefits from it? What are its ideological underpinnings? Why does it persist? Racism is universal: from Japan where the indigenous Ainu and Koreans are discriminated against, to Germany where Gypsies and Turks are attacked, to “ethnic cleansing” in the former Yugoslavia, to poor Arabs in France, to Katrina and New Orleans and the contemptible way African Americans were treated. Racism, forms of superiority, radiate from the centers of domination and power.
Speaker
Michael Parenti
Michael Parenti was a leading independent political analyst, scholar, and author. Cornel West called him “a towering prophetic voice.” He taught at major colleges and universities in the U.S. and abroad. He is the author of numerous books, including Democracy for the Few, Power and the Powerless, and Against Empire. He passed away on January 24, 2026, at the age of 92.
Questioning the Unquestionable
“It is not demanded of readers that they embrace my views, but that they reflect upon their own. How seldom we bother to explore in some critical fashion the fundamental preconceptions that shape our understanding of social and political life. How frequently, as if by reflex rather than reflection, we respond to certain cues and incantations, resisting any incongruous notion. Our opinions shelter and support us; it is an excruciating effort to submit them to reappraisal. Yet if we are to maintain some pretense at being rational creatures, we must risk the discomfiture that comes with questioning the unquestionable, and try to transcend our tendencies toward mental confinement.” – Michael Parenti
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