What is Racism?

There is no specific way to define racism as it has many forms so it is better explained thoroughly as follows. A common view is that racism and racial prejudice are the same, that anyone can be a racist person, regardless of cultural or national origin, and racism goes beyond the kind of conflicts that race has. When people use the word, they are struck by a sense of racism, because they ignore the way in which one race can oppress or exploit another race, such as transatlantic slavery. This ignores the fact that racial attitudes can form within ethnic groups and undermines the stated goals of developed racial and ethnicity organizations such as the United Nations. The idea of racism is that there are large organizations that govern our society and support racism in a loud and subtle way, whether they declare themselves superior to another race or not. Racism is an antagonism based on the alleged superiority or inferiority of one race over another and based solely on skin color or race, including discrimination against people of different ethnic origin, race, religion, gender identity, or sexual orientation. Charles Glenn says celebrating diversity is as much a part of racism as class guilt. A helpful definition comes from the work of Charles Glenn, professor of sociology at the University of California at Berkeley.

Systematic racism occurs when a structure or process is carried out by a group of people, such as race, class, religion, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or disability. Racism is different from prejudice that is a conscious or unconscious prejudice against a person or group on the basis of their identity. For example, a person may subconsciously or consciously believe that people of color are more likely to commit crimes or be dangerous. In general, it may be easy to see when a group of people is vilified, such as when they are ignored by another person in a social work environment.


There is a form of racism that can be seen on a daily basis which is individual racism that does not arise in a vacuum, but rather from things we do and manifest itself in organizations, institutions, and systems, including education. Individual racism is a form of racial discrimination based on conscious or unconscious personal prejudice, which is supported and reinforced by systemic racism. It refers to individual racist assumptions, beliefs, and behaviors, but is connected and learned through a broader socioeconomic history and process. Social messages about race are thus absorbed and incorporated into personal beliefs and prejudices. These are internalized racism and can cause individual racism in a variety of ways, such as discrimination in employment, housing, and education. For example, white people’s internalized privilege can bring a sense of superiority and entitlement and represent negative beliefs about people of color. For people of color, it can mean believing negative messages about one race over another.

But apart from individual racism, racism ceases to be an individual act of discrimination, and refers to the way systems and institutions of privilege approach and write about the issue, such as the idea that black history month is racist towards white people or that affirmative action deprives the certain group of people of employment opportunities.

Racism is a broad definition that is now widely accepted and used, although Germany and some Scandinavian countries often use similar terms such as discrimination, xenophobia, and prejudice to avoid political controversy and terminology debate. this makes the concept controversial, but since racism is a widespread phenomenon worldwide, we would identify what we would call racism depending on the national context and research tradition, there are different definitions of what must be included in racial thinking and the devaluation of biological origin in order for the term to apply.


Racism is the belief that traits and abilities can be attributed to people simply on the basis of race or that some racial groups are superior to others. Racism and discrimination are used as powerful weapons to incite fear and hatred against others, especially in the context of racial and ethnic discrimination and oppression. The movement to end apartheid, led by organizations that are working on replacing racism and injustice with justice.

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