You see it all the time in the United States: a publicly-traded company has the option of thinking long-term and/or building goodwill with a loyal customer base, but instead squeezes the consumer with unfair business practices and price-gouging. Whether it’s gas distributors fixing prices, Netflix jacking its subscription fees up yet again, or a jackass raising the cost of life-saving medicine, corporate America seems bent on squeezing every penny out of the consumer, consequences be damned.

Why do they do it? If you think it’s just because they’re evil…well, you’re basically right. But even evil people pretend to have a justification for what they do, and when it comes to shady business practices it usually goes back to a 1919 case in the Michigan Supreme Court where Henry Ford failed to stop a revolt within his own company.

The term “system racism” refers to the way that racism and bigotry are embedded into the laws and societal norms that form our everyday life. And if you ever doubt the existence of systemic racism, consider that 28 states have square dancing listed as their official state dance, spurred on largely because of Henry Ford’s hatred of Jews.