RACISM
Racism: the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races;
prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior.
Synonyms: racial discrimination, racial prejudice
Racial Prejudice prejudice against or hostility toward people of another race
"Individual racism refers to an individual's racist assumptions, beliefs or behaviours and is "a form of racial discrimination that stems from conscious and unconscious, personal prejudice."
"Systemic Racism includes the policies and practices entrenched in established institutions, which result in the exclusion or promotion of designated groups. It differs from overt discrimination in that no individual intent is necessary.
Institutional racism: racial discrimination that derives from individuals carrying out the dictates of others who are prejudiced or of a prejudiced society
Structural racism: inequalities rooted in the system-wide operation of a society that excludes substantial numbers of members of particular groups from significant participation in major social institutions."
- http://www.ucalgary.ca/cared/formsofracism
“Interpersonal racism is a component of individual level racism and has been defined as "directly perceived discriminatory interactions between individuals whether in their institutional roles or as public and private individuals" (Krieger, 1999, p. 301). Interpersonal racism includes maltreatment that the targeted individual attributes, at least in part, to conscious or unconscious racial/ethnic bias on the part of the perpetrator of the maltreatment.
Interpersonal racism can occur in a wide variety of venues and can be communicated through a range of attitudes and actions (see Taylor & Grundy, 1996).These actions and attitudes can include acts of social exclusion, stigmatization, unfair treatment, and/or threats and harassment (Brondolo et al., 2005; Contrada, Ashmore, Gary, Coups, Egeth, Sewell, Ewell, & Goyal, 2001).
Social distancing and stigmatization: Beliefs about the inferiority of different groups can lead to episodes of verbal and non-verbal behavior that communicate exclusion (e.g., failing to smile or engage, avoiding eye contact, or ignoring requests to participate) and/or rejection (e.g., physically moving away from the targeted individual, turning away from requests for help) and/or disrespect (e.g., name calling, non-verbal expressions of disgust or disapproval).
Discrimination at work or school: Stereotypes about competency, honesty, or diligence can block the creation of opportunities for employment or education (cf., Steele, 1997). Prejudicial attitudes about the groups' characteristics can lead a teacher or supervisor to overlook an individual's strengths or fail to attend to areas of weakness.
Threat and harassment: Targeted individuals can become victims of verbal and physical assault when the social barriers and protections against attack do not extend to those who are stigmatized. Useful resources for understanding different conceptualization of racism and ostracism include: Abrams, Hogg, and Marques (2005); Chen, Williams, Fitness, and Newton (2008), Mays, Cochran, and Barnes (2007), and Swim, Cohen, and Hyers (1998)”
- http://www.health-psych.org/InterpRacism.cfm
“I will try to focus my rant. Can blacks be racist? The answer, of course, will depend on how you define racism. If you define it as “prejudice against or hatred toward another race,” then the answer is yes. If you define racism as “the belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race,” the answer is yes. And if you define racism as “prejudice and discrimination rooted in race-based loathing,” then the answer is, again, yes. However, if you define racism as “a system of group privilege by those who have a disproportionate share of society’s power, prestige, property, and privilege,” then the answer is no. In the end, it is my opinion that individual blacks can be and sometimes are racists. However, collectively, blacks are neither the primary creators nor beneficiaries of the racism that permeates society today….
Conceptualizing racism as prejudice plus discriminatory acts that are “central to the core operations of the U.S. society” is knotty for me. The fact that relatively few blacks can hurt whites does not mean that no blacks can hurt whites. I see racism as operating on all levels from the individual with irrational bigotry throwing a brick to the unintentional (and intentional) race-based privilege that pervades a culture. Feagin is right to highlight the often unseen ways that white racism permeates the culture. However, he underestimates the power (and importance) of everyday racist actions by individuals of all hues and statuses. His conceptualization gives “free pass” to blacks and other minorities to hold racial prejudices and, when possible, act in discriminatory ways against whites. Moreover, his conceptualization takes victimhood to a level that encompasses all blacks, no matter their economic, social, or political standing…
I also accept that the dominant (majority) group (the group with a disproportionate share of the power, prestige, property, and privilege) will be hurt less often by the “everyday flow of society.” For example, the dominant group’s behaviors will be seen as normative and the conflicting behaviors of others (especially others who look differently) will often be judged as aberrant and deviant. This is true both in racially homogeneous societies and racially heterogeneous societies. In these societies, minorities are more likely to die the first year of life, more likely to be poor, and are punished more in schools, have higher rates of unemployment and underemployment, work for lower wages, spend more time behind bars, and live shorter lives. As a social activist and a person of color, this saddens and angers me. The inequality faced by blacks does not mean that they individually cannot be racist; indeed much like the whites who threw rocks at me in the 1970s, it makes holding racist views and discriminating, when possible, against whites more likely. And, yes, there are blacks who benefit from the “everyday flow of society.””
http://www.ferris.edu/HTMLS/news/jimcrow/question/march09/index.htm
