Not just the poor, but anyone who has been unfairly disadvantaged. Being poor is one such disadvantage, but it is not the only one. In order to determine who is disadvantaged, we need to be aware of the numerous social structures that create disadvantage. One of those social structures is race. Like all social structures, it exists only because of social agreement, not because of biological or physical facts. But that does not make it unreal, or unworthy of serious consideration when determining who is disadvantaged.

Money has no physical or biological worth. You can’t eat it or wear it or smoke it. But it is valuable because we say it is valuable, and that is why we take it into consideration when we determined who has been disadvantaged. If there were a long history of people being discriminated against because of their zodiac signs—If Sagittarians had been enslaved or forced to drink from different water fountains—then it would be appropriate to take note of people’s zodiac signs when trying to create a just society. Similarly, the fact that race has no biological basis does not stop it from being a factor that produces disadvantage in society today. Racism, like money, has an impact on society purely because people think race is real. Consequently, a government that is trying to further social justice needs to take race into consideration