Race thinking becomes racism only as a political weapon

Evidence

For Arendt, who drew on Erich Voegelin, race thinking matures into racism through its use as a political weapon. Racism’s graduation from an obscure free opinion to a full-fledged ideology occurred with imperialism and the ‘fateful days of the scramble for Africa.’ In imperialism, race thinking combined with bureaucracy, ‘the organization of the great game of expansion in which every area was considered a stepping stone to further involvements and every people an instrument for further conquest.’ … We may not find that President George W. Bush pursues a race project as single-mindedly as did Adolf Hitler, but we can see how race thinking (the clash of a modern and pre-modern civilization) is annexed to a political project (control of oil, capitalist accumulation, power) and erupts into a full-blown racism when united with ideas about universal values, individualism, and the market. — Sherene Razack, Casting Out, 38 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Ideas matter only as they strengthen the race and subjugate others; Racism is real but race is only an idea manufactured by racist practice.; Bureaucratized race thinking sustains hierarchy without hostile intent (+5 more)

Broader Connections

• Race thinking becomes racism only when annexed to a political project #expands (0.95) — Sherene Razack, Casting Out, 38
• Racism operates as a changing process rather than a fixed project #complicates (0.74)