Contemporary political polarization is often fuelled by narratives portraying minority groups as dispensable or undeserving, emphasizing their alleged lack of contribution to society. Such beliefs may foster negative attitudes and weaken support for social justice. Perceived indispensability, both functional (e.g., contributions to health, education, or culture) and identity based (as integral to national identity), may counteract these effects by framing minorities as essential members of society. This study examined whether perceptions of indispensability relate to different forms of collective action through modern racism. The study employed a correlational design with 269 White participants (Mage = 22.09, SD = 6.68; 81.4% female). Perceptions of indispensability were measured with the Functional and Identity Indispensability Scale, racism with an adaptation of the Modern Racism Scale, and collective action tendencies with items covering low-cost and high-cost action, working in solidarity, and raising ingroup awareness. Four mediation models were conducted, one for each form of collective action. Results indicated that functional indispensability consistently relates to collective action, though pathways differed by action type. For low-cost action and working in solidarity, effects were both direct and indirect via reduced racism, whereas for high-cost action and raising awareness, effects were mainly indirect. Identity indispensability showed no significant effects. These findings underscore the value of emphasizing minorities' indispensability in public policies and political discourse as a pathway to reduce prejudice and foster broader engagement in social justice initiatives.