I think your interpretation of "arbitrary" might be different from my meaning. I can say with absolute certainty what blood type someone has, there is no room for opinion in that determination. It is not arbitrary, it is a category based on something measurable. Race, on the other hand, arises out of both the beliefs of the viewer and the characteristics of the viewed. What one person might consider white, another might not, making it arbitrary. On a systemic level, the decision to consider one ethnicity white or one not-white is not grounded in any meaningful difference, it's based on the wants and desires of a small group of people.
Yes. I feel like arbitrary means not according to a system or without organization. I agree that the idea of "whiteness" is unscientific, however I feel that there is definitely a set of criteria that the in group uses to determine it, even though it fluctuates over time. I also disagree that the minority is who sets the criteria. I believe capital is fundamentally indifferent with regards to race. In group/out group oppression predates market economies. Capital absolutely exploits racism to its advantage, but I feel like there's an in group who use power to hoard whatever resources aren't gobbled up as profit and that group, in the US at least, sets the terms for who is "white".
I think your interpretation of "arbitrary" might be different from my meaning. I can say with absolute certainty what blood type someone has, there is no room for opinion in that determination. It is not arbitrary, it is a category based on something measurable. Race, on the other hand, arises out of both the beliefs of the viewer and the characteristics of the viewed. What one person might consider white, another might not, making it arbitrary. On a systemic level, the decision to consider one ethnicity white or one not-white is not grounded in any meaningful difference, it's based on the wants and desires of a small group of people.
Yes. I feel like arbitrary means not according to a system or without organization. I agree that the idea of "whiteness" is unscientific, however I feel that there is definitely a set of criteria that the in group uses to determine it, even though it fluctuates over time. I also disagree that the minority is who sets the criteria. I believe capital is fundamentally indifferent with regards to race. In group/out group oppression predates market economies. Capital absolutely exploits racism to its advantage, but I feel like there's an in group who use power to hoard whatever resources aren't gobbled up as profit and that group, in the US at least, sets the terms for who is "white".