11.2 Thinking About Racism

Question 1

Racism

Answer 1

The attribution of characteristics of superiority or inferiority to a population sharing certain physically inherited characteristics.

Racism is one specific form of prejudice, focusing on physical variations among people and discrimination

Racist attitudes became entrenched during the period of Western colonial expansion

Question 2

Préjudice

Answer 2

The holding of preconceived ideas about an individual or group, ideas that are resistant to change even in the face of new information.

Prejudice may be either positive or negative

Question 3

Stereotyping

Answer 3

Thinking in terms of fixed and inflexible categories

Question 4

Scapegoats

Answer 4

Individuals or groups blamed for wrongs that were not of their doing. Scapegoating is normally directed against groups that are relatively powerless

Question 5

Discrimination

Answer 5

Behaviour that denies to the members of a particular group ressources or rewards that can be obtained by others.

Discrimination must be distinguished from prejudice:
- Individuals who are prejudiced against others may not necessarily engage in discriminatory practices against them

Question 6

Concepts of Racism in the US

Answer 6

1. Colour - blind racism
2. White Privilege
3. Institutional Racism
4. Overt Racism
5. Microaggressions

Question 7

Colour - Blind Racism

Answer 7

Sociologist Eduardo Bonilla-Silva denizens colour blindness as a means of maintaining racial inequality without appearing racist.

One significant aspect of colour blindness is white privilège

Question 8

White Privilege

Answer 8

The unacknowledged rewards/assets that benefit white members of society in their everyday lives

Question 9

Institutional Racism

Answer 9

The idea that racism occurs through the respected and established institutions of society rather than through hateful actions of some and people.

This concept was developed in the 1960s by black power activists Stokley Carmichael and Charles Hamilton, and taken up by sociologists in the 1970s

Question 10

Study of Institutional Racism

Answer 10

Those who focus on institutional racism study how institutions have practices of built-in inequality into the fabric of their operations

Question 11

Example of Institutional Racism

Answer 11

George Floyd, a black man who was killed by police officers exercising excessive amounts of force

Floyd’s murder brought attention to systemic, institutional racism, and it resulted in an outpouring of protests in cities around the world

Question 12

Overt Racism

Answer 12

Racism can be expressed overtly by bigoted individuals through individual attitudes, perceptions, and beliefs

It can be sustained by the ideological racist statements of political leaders

Overt racism saw a resurgence during the campaign and 2016-2020 term of President Donald Trump

Question 13

Racial microaggressions

Answer 13

Small slights, indignities, or acts of disrespect that are hurtful to people of colour even though they are often perpetrated by individuals that may be well-meaning

This idea was originally proposed in the 1970s by Chester M. Pierce, an African American psychiatrist