The Politics of Business: Why Business is Never Neutral
Some of us may try to keep business and politics separate, but my friend, that is a futile effort because business is deeply political.
America itself is one massive political enterprise, run by white men who continue to reap the benefits of systems built on the murder of Indigenous peoples, the theft of land, and the enslavement of Black people. This lineage shapes the way we operate within business today, whether we acknowledge it or not, whether we are unlearning and learning or still deeply enmeshed in its structures.
It is both irresponsible and naive to believe that our businesses exist outside of politics.
We have been trained to believe that business and politics should not mix. We have been conditioned to separate our identities, intersections, and full humanity from business under the false pretense that politics is "bad" for business. But the truth is that race, gender, and class have always shaped business and determined how wealth is accumulated and distributed within commerce.
From the language we use on our websites to the images we share on social media, from how we price our offerings to whom we seek for mentorship and business support, every aspect of business is political. Every decision signals our values, our politics, and our awareness (or lack thereof) of systemic inequities.
We live within an imperialist, capitalist, white supremacist, patriarchal society, and that conditioning permeates everything we think, create, and participate in.
Capitalism fuels business, and capitalism dictates that there are workers and there are owners. Workers are exploited while owners amass wealth. Capitalism not only extracts from people but also conditions us to operate as machines, stripping us of our sovereignty. Even when we run our businesses solo, we often do so through a capitalistic lens because capitalism is deeply internalized.
And yet, let’s not forget: slavery built America. Slavery created the foundation of the capitalist economy as we know it today and established the blueprint for business practices that still shape our world. How could business ever be apolitical?
"Even business histories that consider plantation slavery tend to be constrained by the assumption that innovation occurred despite slavery, not because of it." – Caitlin Rosenthal
And let’s also remember this: the personal is political.
For those of us running small businesses, especially as solopreneurs, our personal values are inseparable from how we conduct business. If we fail to interrogate our biases and conditioning, we risk perpetuating harm in the name of "earning a profit."
For me, my politics are front and center in my business. As a Black woman in America, this is non-negotiable. And as I continue to unlearn and decolonize, my perspectives shift. I see more clearly where I’ve been harmed, where I’ve caused harm, and where I’ve even harmed myself. A just business practice requires that I remain accountable, not just to my vision, but to the people my work impacts.
A Consideration for White Entrepreneurs
If you are a white person in business and have not taken the time or allocated resources to unpack the violent history of business and your connection to it, then your work will inevitably reinforce the harms of white supremacy and capitalism.
Building and growing a business without understanding how whiteness operates as a destructive force weaponizes your business. It makes your work unsafe for those who do not share your racial privilege, regardless of your intent. Without deep, ongoing engagement in anti-racist practice, business ownership will default to upholding the very structures that harm marginalized communities.
Unlearning whiteness is not a one-time task. It is a continuous process of unraveling, examining, and identifying the ways it operates within you and your work. It requires self-reflection, community accountability, and a commitment to redistributing power and resources.
Conclusion
As we create new ways of being in community, as the business world continues to shift under political influence, and as entrepreneurs are being called to do better, we cannot afford to shy away from taking a stand. Business is not neutral, and neither are we.
"People say they don’t care about politics; they’re not involved or don’t want to get involved, but they are. Their involvement just masquerades as indifference or inattention. It is the silent acquiescence of the millions that supports the system. When you don’t oppose a system, your silence becomes approval, for it does nothing to interrupt the system. People use all sorts of excuses for their indifference. They even appeal to God as a shorthand route for supporting the status quo. They talk about law and order. But look at the system, look at the present social ‘order’ of society. Do you see God? Do you see law and order? There is nothing but disorder, and instead of law there is only the illusion of security. It is an illusion because it is built on a long history of injustices: racism, criminality, and the enslavement and genocide of millions. Many people say it is insane to resist the system, but actually, it is insane not to." – Mumia Abu-Jamal
