Noun

racism

1. The belief that members of one race are superior to members of other races
2. The belief that members of one ethnic group are superior to members of another ethnic group.
3. The belief that capability or behavior can racially defined.
4. Aggression or discriminatory behavior towards members of a certain race or races.
5. Aggression or discriminatory behavior based upon difference in ethnicity .
6. Ethnically or culturally discriminatory behavior exhibited by members of the racial, ethnic, or cultural group dominant within a society.
7. The practice of asserting or assuming racially or ethnically defined cultural dominance.
8. The perpetuation of racial, ethnic, or cultural dominance of some groups over others.
9. Opportunity inequality resulting from preferential treatment towards others of a similar cultural background.

Usage note

Part of the debate over the use of racism revolves around the concept of race itself: whether the species homo sapiens contains different races (i.e., whether there is any scientific basis for the concept of race); whether what is generally considered racism is in fact related to race (as opposed to being based on cultural differences); and whether ethnic discrimination between two groups of people within the same race can be considered racism (i.e., whether discrimination or aggression exhibited by white Christians towards white Jews constitutes racism).

Beyond this there is debate as to whether the word racism can only be applied to conscious belief or behavior, if it can extend to people who believe themselves free of racism but in practice unknowingly discriminate or denigrate people of a different ethnic group, if it can extend to people who do not act to prevent instances of racial aggression or discrimination, if it can extend to people who knowingly or unknowingly perpetuate a social structure of racial dominance, or if it can extend to people who treat people similar to themselves preferentially, resulting in a discriminatory effect with ethnic correlations.

Some people claim that racism exists or is inherent in all people, but in varying amounts and with varying degrees of self-awareness. Other people define racism as behavior exhibited only by the culturally dominant ethnic group towards other ethnic groups (i.e., racism cannot be exhibited by ethnic minorities, since they are incapable of reinforcing the existing power structure by discriminating against members of another race. Racialism , reverse racism, and other terms have been suggested to describe racial aggression or discrimination exhibited by ethnic minorities).

Derived terms

• reverse racism

Related terms

• racist
• race
• race riot
• racialism
• racialist
• racial
• racy
• racial slur

Translations

• Finnish: rasismi
• French: racisme m
• Italian: razzismo m
• Slovak: rasizmus m
• Slovene: rasizem m
• Spanish: racismo m

See also

• affirmative action
• anti-semitism
• apartheid
• black is beautiful
• Civil Rights Movement
• cultural anthropology
• cultural relativism
• ethnic majority
• ethnic minority
• ethnocentrism
• eugenics
• Eurocentrism
• hate crime
• historical particularism
• intolerance
• multiculturalism
• nationalism
• political minority
• Rainbow Coalition
• unilineal evolution
• social Darwinism
• supremacist
• tolerance
• White supremacy
• xenophobia