Difference between revisions of "Racism" - New World Encyclopedia

From New World Encyclopedia
 
(32 intermediate revisions by 8 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
 
[[Category:Politics and social sciences]]
 
[[Category:Politics and social sciences]]
 
[[Category:Sociology]]
 
[[Category:Sociology]]
{{Contracted}}
+
{{Ebapproved}}{{Paid}}{{Approved}}{{Images OK}}{{Submitted}}{{Copyedited}}
  
[[Image:ColoredDrinking.jpg|thumb|250px|An African-American man drinks out of the "colored only" water cooler at a racially segregated street car terminal in the [[United States]] in 1939.]]
+
[[Image:ColoredDrinking.jpg|thumb|275px|An African-American man drinks out of the "colored only" water cooler at a racially segregated street car terminal in the [[United States]] in 1939.]]
  
'''Racism''' refers to various [[belief]] systems maintaining that the essential value of an individual can be determined according to a perceived or ascribed racial category and that social discrimination by race is therefore justifiable.
+
'''Racism''' refers to various [[belief]]s maintaining that the essential value of an individual can be determined according to a perceived or ascribed racial category and that social discrimination by race is therefore justifiable. Racial [[prejudice]] often includes the belief that people of different races differ in aptitudes and abilities, such as [[intelligence]], physical prowess, or [[virtue]]. Most individuals who subscribe to racial categories believe that different races can be placed on a ranked, hierarchical scale. Racism has gone through a process of increasing occurrence and severity as people of different races encountered each other; from discriminatory [[attitude]]s, to [[genocide]], to the establishment of [[social structure]]s institutionalizing [[racial segregation]].
 +
{{toc}}
 +
Finally, in the era of [[globalization|globalized]] society, racism is now officially condemned by international bodies such as the [[United Nations]] and the [[European Union]], as well as by numerous states. Thus, the idea of racism has reached the point where it is considered unacceptable, and the idea that we are one human family has taken root.
  
==History of racism==
+
=== Definition ===
 +
'''Racism''' is defined as the predication of decisions and policies on considerations of race for the purpose of subordinating a racial group and maintaining control over that group. Organizations and institutions that practice racism discriminate against and marginalize a class of people who share a common racial designation. Racism can more narrowly refer to a system of oppression, such as institutional racism, that is based on the idea of one race's superiority over other races. The term "racism" is usually applied to the dominant group in such a society, because that group typically has the means to oppress others. However, "racism" can be equally applied to any individual or group(s), regardless of [[social status]] or dominance. By definition, one who practices racism is known as a '''racist'''.
  
=== Etymology ===
+
Racism can be overt or subtle, and there are two closely related forms: individuals acting against other individuals and one community acting against another. These are called individual and institutional racism, respectively. Individual racism consists of overt acts by individuals, which can directly cause death, injury, or the destruction of [[property]]. Institutional racism is often more difficult to identify but no less destructive. It often originates in the operation of established and respected forces in society and, therefore, it may receive less public condemnation than does individual racism.
  
The word '''racism''' appeared in the 1930s in English and French. Racial [[prejudice]] often includes the [[belief]] that people of different races differ in aptitudes and abilities, such as [[intelligence]], physical prowess, or [[virtue]]. Most individuals who subscribe to racial categories believe that different races can be placed on a ranked, hierarchical scale. By definition, one who practices racism is known as a '''racist'''.
+
Racism is to be distinguished from "racialism," which [[W.E.B. Du Bois]] argued was the belief that differences between the races exist, be they [[biology|biological]], social, [[psychology|psychological]], or in the realm of the [[soul]]. He then went on to argue that racism is using this belief to push forward the argument that one's particular race is superior to the others. Therefore, Du Bois separates the conditions of racism from racism itself.
  
Racism has been defined as the predication of decisions and policies on considerations of race for the purpose of subordinating a racial group and maintaining control over that group. Racism can more narrowly refer to a system of oppression, such as [[Racism#Institutional Racism|institutional racism]] that is based on the idea of one race's superiority over other races. Organizations and institutions that practice racism discriminate against and marginalize a class of people who share a common racial designation. The term "racism" is usually applied to the dominant group in such a society, because that group typically has the means to oppress others. However, "racism" can be equally applied to any individual or group(s), regardless of [[social status]] or dominance.
+
Debates over the origins of racism often suffer from a lack of clarity over the term. Many use the term "racism" to refer to more general phenomena, such as [[xenophobia]] (fear of other races) and [[ethnocentrism]]. Attempts have been made to clearly distinguish those phenomena from racism as an [[ideology]] or from [[Racism#Scientific Racism|scientific racism]], which has little to do with actual xenophobia.
 
 
Racism can be overt or subtle, and there are two closely related forms: individuals acting against other individuals and one community acting against another. These are called individual and instituitonal racism, respectively. Individual racism consists of overt acts by individuals, which can directly cause death, injury, or the destruction of [[property]]. Instituitonal racism is often more difficult to identify but no less destructive. It often originates in the operation of established and respected forces in society and, therefore, it frequently receives far less public condemnation than does individual racism.
 
  
 +
==History of racism==
 
=== Ethnic conflicts ===
 
=== Ethnic conflicts ===
  
Debates over the origins of racism often suffer from a lack of clarity over the term. Many use the term "racism" to refer to more general phenomenon, such as [[xenophobia]] and [[ethnocentrism]]. Attempts have been made to clearly distinguish those phenomena from racism as an [[ideology]] or from [[Racism#Scientific Racism|scientific racism]], which has little to do with actual xenophobia.
+
Racism has been conflated with earlier forms of ethnic and national conflict. In most cases, ethno-national conflict conveys a struggle over land and strategic resources. In certain historical examples, ethnicity and [[nationalism]] were harnessed to rally combatants in [[war]]s between great religious empires (e.g., the [[Islam|Muslim]] [[Turkey|Turks]] and the [[Catholic]] [[Austro-Hungarian Empire|Austro-Hungarians]]). Notions of race and racism often have played central roles in such ethnic conflicts. Historically, when an adversary was identified as "other," based on notions of race or ethnicity (particularly when "other" is construed as "inferior"), the means employed by the self-presumed "superior" party to appropriate territory, human chattel, or material wealth often have been more ruthless, more brutal, and less constrained by [[morality|moral]] or [[ethics|ethical]] considerations.
  
Others conflate recent forms of racism with earlier forms of ethnic and national conflict. In most cases, ethno-national conflict conveys a struggle over land and strategic resources. In certain historical examples, ethnicity and [[nationalism]] were harnessed to rally combatants in [[war]]s between great religious empires (e.g. the [[Islam|Muslim]] [[Turkey|Turks]] and the [[Catholic]] [[Austro-Hungarian Empire|Austro-Hungarians]]). Notions of race and racism often have played central roles in such ethnic conflicts. Historically, when an adversary was identified as "other," based on notions of race or ethnicity (particularly when "other" is construed as "inferior"), the means employed by the self-presumed "superior" party to appropriate territory, human chattel, or material wealth often have been more ruthless, more brutal, and less constrained by [[morality|moral]] or [[ethics|ethical]] considerations.
+
During the Valladolid controversy in the middle of the sixteenth century, people like Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda argued that the [[Native Americans]] were natural [[slavery|slaves]] because they had no "[[soul]]s." In [[Asia]], the [[China|Chinese]] and [[Japan]]ese Empires were both strong colonial powers, with the Chinese making colonies and vassal states of much of East Asia throughout history and the [[Japanese Empire]] doing the same in the nineteenth-twentieth centuries. In both cases, the Asian imperial powers believed they were ethnically and racially superior to their vassals, and entitled to be their masters.
 +
[[Image:Klan-in-gainesville.jpg|thumb|250px|left|Members of the second [[Ku Klux Klan]] at a rally in 1922.]]
  
One example of the brutalizing and dehumanizing effects of racism was the attempt to deliberately infect [[Native Americans]] with [[smallpox]] during Pontiac's Rebellion in 1763, itself a war intended to ethnically cleanse the "other" (Anglo-Americans) from Native American land; each side "othered" the other. According to historian Daniel Richter, Pontiac's Rebellion introduced "the novel idea that all native people were 'Indians,' that all Euro-Americans were 'Whites,' and that all on one side must unite to destroy the other" to both sides of the conflict.<ref>Daniel Richter, ''Facing East from Indian Country'', p. 208</ref>
+
In the Western world, racism evolved, encompassed the doctrine of "white supremacy," and helped fuel the [[Europe]]an exploration, conquest, and colonization of much of the rest of the world&mdash; especially after [[Christopher Columbus]] reached the Americas.  
  
During the Valladolid controversy in the middle of the sixteenth century, people like Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda argued that the Native Americans were natural slaves because they had no "[[soul]]s". In [[Asia]], the [[China|Chinese]] and [[Japan]]ese Empires were both strong colonial powers, with the Chinese making colonies and vassal states of much of East Asia throughout history and the Japanese doing the same in the nineteenth-twentieth centuries. In both cases, the Asian imperial powers believed they were ethnically and racially superior to their vassals, and entitled to be their masters.
+
One example of the brutalizing and dehumanizing effects of racism was the attempt to deliberately infect [[Native Americans]] with [[smallpox]] during [[Pontiac's Rebellion]] in 1763, itself a war intended to ethnically cleanse the "other" (Anglo-Americans) from Native American land; each side "othered" the other. According to historian Daniel Richter, Pontiac's Rebellion introduced "the novel idea that all native people were 'Indians,' that all Euro-Americans were 'Whites,' and that all on one side must unite to destroy the other" to both sides of the conflict.<ref>Daniel K. Richter. ''Facing East from Indian Country: A Native History of Early America'' (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2003, ISBN 0674011171), 208.</ref>
[[Image:Klan-in-gainesville.jpg|thumb|300px|left|Members of the second Ku Klux Klan at a rally in 1922.]]
 
  
In the Western world, racism evolved, encompassed the doctrine of "white supremacy," and helped fuel the [[Europe]]an exploration, conquest, and colonization of much of the rest of the world&mdash;especially after [[Christopher Columbus]] reached the Americas.  
+
It has also been argued that racism surfaced more recently&mdash;as late as the 1800s&mdash;due to the need for a justification for [[Racism#Slavery in the United States|slavery in the United States]]. Maintaining that [[Africa]]ns were "subhuman" was the only loophole in the prevalent ideal that "all men are created equal." Theories about "race" developed, allowing many to justify the differences in position and treatment of people whom they categorized as belonging to different races.<ref>Eric R. Wolf, ''Europe and the People without History'' (University of California Press, 1982, ISBN 0520048989).</ref> Racism did not end with the [[U.S. Civil War]], however. Hate groups such as the [[Ku Klux Klan]] formed during reconstruction in an attempt to disenfranchise, threaten, and subordinate African Americans.
  
It has also been argued that racism surfaced more recently&mdash;as late as the 1800s&mdash;due to the need for a justification for [[Racism#Slavery in the United States|slavery in the United States]]. Maintaining that [[Africa]]ns were "subhuman" was the only loophole in the prevalent ideal that "all men are created equal." Theories about "race" developed, allowing many to justify the differences in position and treatment of people whom they categorized as belonging to different races <ref>Wolf, Eric R. 1982. ''Europe and the People without History.'' University of California Press. ISBN 0520048989</ref>. Racism did not end with the [[U.S. Civil War]], however. Hate groups such as the [[Ku Klux Klan]] formed during reconstruction in an attempt to disenfranchise, threaten, and subordinate African Americans.
+
===European colonialism===
 
 
===European Colonialism===
 
  
 
{{Main|Colonialism}}
 
{{Main|Colonialism}}
  
Authors such as [[Hannah Arendt]], who wrote ''The Origins of Totalitarianism'' in 1951, have pointed out how the racist [[ideology]] ("popular racism") that developed at the end of the nineteenth century helped legitimize the [[imperialism|imperialist]] conquests of foreign territories and [[crime]]s that ensued (such as the Herero and Namaqua [[genocide]] in 1904-1907). French philosopher [[Auguste Comte]]'s [[positivism|positivist]] ideology of social progress as a consequence of scientific progress, led many Europeans to believe in the inherent superiority of the "White Race" over non-white races.<ref>Auguste Comte ''Cours de Philosophie Positive'' (6 volumes), published 1830-1842; translated into English 1853.</ref> [[Rudyard Kipling]]'s poem, ''The White Man's Burden'' (1899), serves as one of the most famous illustrations of this [[belief]].<ref>[http://www.globalpolicy.org/empire/history/2003/nov2003kiplingempire.htm Rudyard Kipling ''The White Man's Burden'']</ref>  
+
Authors such as [[Hannah Arendt]], who wrote ''The Origins of Totalitarianism'' in 1951, have pointed out how the racist [[ideology]] ("popular racism") that developed at the end of the nineteenth century helped legitimize the [[imperialism|imperialist]] conquests of foreign territories and [[crime]]s that ensued (such as the Herero and Namaqua [[genocide]] in 1904-1907). French philosopher [[Auguste Comte]]'s [[positivism|positivist]] ideology of social progress as a consequence of scientific progress, led many Europeans to believe in the inherent superiority of the "White Race" over non-white races.<ref>Auguste Comte, ''Cours de Philosophie Positive'' (6 volumes), published 1830-1842; translated into English 1853.</ref> [[Rudyard Kipling]]'s poem ''The White Man's Burden'' (1899), serves as one of the most famous illustrations of this [[belief]].<ref>[https://www.globalpolicy.org/component/content/article/155/25970.html Rudyard Kipling 'The White Man's Burden' and US Imperialism] ''GlobalPolicy.org'', November, 2003. Retrieved June 16, 2020. </ref>  
  
 
Racist ideology thus helped legitimize subjugation, [[slavery]], and the dismantling of the traditional societies of indigenous peoples. Racist rationalizations caused many people to consider such actions humanitarian obligations. Other colonialists recognized the depravity of their actions but persisted for personal gain. Some Europeans objected to the injustices caused by colonialism and lobbied on behalf of aboriginal peoples. Thus, when the so-called "Hottentot Venus" was displayed in England in the beginning of the nineteenth century, the African Association publicly opposed itself to the shameful exhibition. Moreover, the same year that Kipling published his poem, [[Joseph Conrad]] published ''Heart of Darkness'' (1899), a clear criticism of the [[Congo Free State]] owned by [[Leopold II of Belgium]].
 
Racist ideology thus helped legitimize subjugation, [[slavery]], and the dismantling of the traditional societies of indigenous peoples. Racist rationalizations caused many people to consider such actions humanitarian obligations. Other colonialists recognized the depravity of their actions but persisted for personal gain. Some Europeans objected to the injustices caused by colonialism and lobbied on behalf of aboriginal peoples. Thus, when the so-called "Hottentot Venus" was displayed in England in the beginning of the nineteenth century, the African Association publicly opposed itself to the shameful exhibition. Moreover, the same year that Kipling published his poem, [[Joseph Conrad]] published ''Heart of Darkness'' (1899), a clear criticism of the [[Congo Free State]] owned by [[Leopold II of Belgium]].
  
Human "zoos" bolstered popular racism by connecting it to [[Racism#Scientif Racism|scientific racism]]: people of different races were both objects of public curiosity and of [[anthropology]] and [[anthropometry]]. <ref> [http://migs.concordia.ca/occpapers/zoo.htm On A Neglected Aspect Of Western Racism], Kurt Jonassohn, December 2000 </ref> <ref>Pascal Blanchard, Sandrine Lemaire and Nicolas Bancel Human zoos - Racist theme parks for Europe's colonialists ''Le Monde Diplomatique'' August 2000 [http://mondediplo.com/2000/08/07humanzoo] ''Ces zoos humains de la République coloniale'' ''Le Monde diplomatique'' August 2000 [http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/2000/08/BANCEL/14145.html] (available to everyone) </ref> Joice Heth, an African-American slave, was displayed by [[P. T. Barnum]] in 1836, a few years after the exhibition of Saartjie Bartman, the "Hottentot Venus." Such exhibitions became common in the New Imperialism period and remained so until [[World War II]]. Congolese [[pygmy]], Ota Benga, was displayed in 1906 by [[eugenics|eugenicist]] Madison Grant, head of the [[Bronx Zoo]], as an attempt to illustrate the "missing link" between human beings and the [[orangutan]]; therefore, racism became linked with [[Darwinism]], creating a [[social Darwinism]] ideology which tried to ground itself in [[Charles Darwin|Darwin]]'s scientific discoveries. The 1931 Paris Colonial Exhibition displayed Kanaks from [[New Caledonia]], and a "Congolese village" was on display as late as 1958 during the Brussels' World Fair.<ref> [http://www.port.ac.uk/special/france1815to2003/chapter6/interviews/filetodownload,18533,en.pdf The Colonial Exhibition of May 1931] (PDF) by Michael G. Vann, History Dept., [[Santa Clara University]], USA </ref>
+
Human "zoos" bolstered popular racism by connecting it to [[Racism#Scientific Racism|scientific racism]]: people of different races were both objects of public curiosity and of [[anthropology]] and [[anthropometry]].<ref>Pascal Blanchard, Sandrine Lemaire and Nicolas Bancel, [https://mondediplo.com/2000/08/07humanzoo Human zoos - Racist theme parks for Europe's colonialists] ''Le Monde Diplomatique'', August 2000. Retrieved June 16, 2020.</ref> Joice Heth, an African-American slave, was displayed by [[P. T. Barnum]] in 1836, a few years after the exhibition of Saartjie Bartman, the "Hottentot Venus." Such exhibitions became common in the New Imperialism period and remained so until [[World War II]]. Congolese [[pygmy]], Ota Benga, was displayed in 1906 by [[eugenics|eugenicist]] Madison Grant, head of the [[Bronx Zoo]], as an attempt to illustrate the "missing link" between human beings and the [[orangutan]]. Thus, racism became linked with [[Darwinism]], creating the ideology of [[social Darwinism]], which tried to ground itself in [[Charles Darwin|Darwin]]'s scientific discoveries.  
  
 
===Slavery in the United States===
 
===Slavery in the United States===
 
{{Main|Slavery}}
 
{{Main|Slavery}}
  
[[Image:Misissippi ku klux.jpg|right|thumb|Mississippi Ku-Klux members in the disguises in which they were captured]]
+
[[Image:Misissippi ku klux.jpg|right|thumb|220px|Mississippi Ku-Klux members in the disguises in which they were captured]]
 
Contention over the [[morality]] and [[law|legality]] of the institution of slavery was one of the cardinal issues which led to the [[U.S. Civil War]]. The failed attempt at secession by the Confederacy of the United States led to the Emancipation Proclamation, which was the official end of legal slavery in the United States.
 
Contention over the [[morality]] and [[law|legality]] of the institution of slavery was one of the cardinal issues which led to the [[U.S. Civil War]]. The failed attempt at secession by the Confederacy of the United States led to the Emancipation Proclamation, which was the official end of legal slavery in the United States.
  
Line 53: Line 53:
 
{{Main|Fascism|Nazism}}
 
{{Main|Fascism|Nazism}}
  
The fascist regimes, which rose to power in [[Europe]] (particularly [[Germany]] and [[Italy]]) and [[Japan]] before [[World War II]], advocated and implemented racist, xenophobic, and often [[genocide|genocidal]] policies and [[attitude]]s. While racism, xenophobia, and genocide were not new, the scope of the atrocities committed by the German [[Nazism|Nazis]] and the Japanese Imperialists was without precedent.
+
The fascist regimes, which rose to power in [[Europe]] (particularly [[Germany]] and [[Italy]]) and [[Japan]] before [[World War II]], advocated and implemented racist, [[xenophobia|xenophobic]], and often [[genocide|genocidal]] policies and [[attitude]]s. While racism, xenophobia, and genocide were not new, the scope of the atrocities committed by the German [[Nazism|Nazis]] and the Japanese Imperialists was without precedent.
  
 
=== Anti-Semitism ===
 
=== Anti-Semitism ===
 
{{Main|Anti-Semitism}}
 
{{Main|Anti-Semitism}}
  
Anti-Semitism is a specific case of racism targeting the [[Judaism|Jewish]] people, although scholars argue whether it should be considered a ''sui generis'' species or not. For example, in the [[Russia]]n Empire, official segregation of the Russian Jews in the Pale of Settlement since the early 1800s was compounded by the 1882 May Laws. Waves of anti-Semitic [[pogrom]]s ([[riot]]s against a particular group), in many cases state-sponsored, proliferated from 1881-1884, 1902-1906, and 1914-1921. The term "anti-Semitism" is deceptive because "Semitic" peoples technically include the [[Arab]]s and the Hebrews, but "anti-Semitism" only refers to the latter.
+
Anti-Semitism is a specific case of racism targeting the [[Judaism|Jewish]] people, although scholars argue whether it should be considered a ''sui generis'' species or not. For example, in the [[Russia]]n Empire, official segregation of the Russian Jews in the Pale of Settlement since the early 1800s was compounded by the 1882 May Laws. Waves of anti-Semitic [[pogrom]]s ([[riot]]s against a particular group), in many cases state-sponsored, proliferated from 1881-1884, 1902-1906, and 1914-1921. The term "anti-Semitism" is deceptive because "Semitic" peoples technically include both the [[Arab]]s and the Hebrews, but "anti-Semitism" only refers to the latter.
  
Scholars distinguish traditional, [[Christian]] anti-Semitism, which derives from the [[Bible|Biblical]] account of deicide (literally meaning "God-killing" referring to the execution of [[Jesus]] by crucifixion), with racial anti-Semitism, which ultimately led to the [[Holocaust]]. The State of [[Israel]] was established in 1948, when many Jews and [[Gentiles]] considered the creation of a Jewish [[nation-state]] (which was the aim of [[Zionism]]) the only way of acquiring real protection from possible future [[genocide]]s. At the [[Second Vatican Council]] in 1965, the [[Roman Catholic Church]] cleared the Jews from allegations of deicide.
+
Scholars distinguish traditional, [[Christian]] anti-Semitism, which derives from the [[Bible|Biblical]] account of ''deicide'' (literally meaning "God-killing" referring to the execution of [[Jesus]] by crucifixion), with racial anti-Semitism, which ultimately led to the [[Holocaust]]. The State of [[Israel]] was established in 1948, when many Jews and [[Gentiles]] considered the creation of a Jewish [[nation-state]] (which was the aim of [[Zionism]]) the only way of acquiring real protection from possible future [[genocide]]s. At the [[Second Vatican Council]] in 1965, the [[Roman Catholic Church]] cleared the Jews from allegations of deicide.
  
 
==Types of racism==
 
==Types of racism==
 
+
Racism may be expressed [[Racism#Individual racism|individually]], through explicit and implicit [[thought]]s, [[feeling]]s, or acts, or socially, through institutions that promote inequalities among "races," as in [[Racism#Institutional racism|institutional racism]]. [[Racism#Scientific racism|Scientific racism]] is the use of scientific arguments to support [[belief]] in differences among races.
Racism may be expressed individually, through explicit and implicit thoughts, feelings, or acts, or socially, through institutions that promote inequalities among "races", as in [[institutional racism]].
 
  
 
=== Scientific racism ===
 
=== Scientific racism ===
[[Image:Races and skulls.png|200px|right|thumb|Nott and Gliddon's ''Indigenous races of the earth'' (1857) used misleading imagery to suggest that "Negroes" ranked between "whites" and [[chimpanzee]]s. Note the different angles at which the "white" and "Negro" skulls are positioned. Nott and Gliddon's work is considered one of the classics of scientific racism.]]
+
[[Image:Races and skulls.png|225px|right|thumb|Nott and Gliddon's ''Indigenous races of the earth'' (1857) used misleading imagery to suggest that "Negroes" ranked between "whites" and [[chimpanzee]]s. Note the different angles at which the "white" and "Negro" skulls are positioned. Nott and Gliddon's work is considered one of the classics of scientific racism.]]
  
 
Scientific racism refers to the use of [[science]] (or the veneer of science) to justify and support racist beliefs. The concept goes back at least to the early eighteenth century, though it gained most of its influence in the mid-nineteenth century. Works like [[Gobineau]]'s ''An Essay on the Inequality of the Human Races'' (1853-1855) attempted to frame racism within the terms of [[biology|biological]] difference among human beings. After the work of [[Charles Darwin]] became well-known, the rise of theories of [[evolution]] led many to consider some races more "evolved" than others. These points of view became very common within the scientific community at the time&mdash;even Darwin, who was an active [[abolitionism|abolitionist]] and considered all humans to be of the same [[species]] (against a trend of polygenism popular in [[anthropology]] at the time), believed that there were inherent biological differences in the mental capacities of different races. Ideologies such as [[social Darwinism]] and [[eugenics]] used and reinforced many of these views.
 
Scientific racism refers to the use of [[science]] (or the veneer of science) to justify and support racist beliefs. The concept goes back at least to the early eighteenth century, though it gained most of its influence in the mid-nineteenth century. Works like [[Gobineau]]'s ''An Essay on the Inequality of the Human Races'' (1853-1855) attempted to frame racism within the terms of [[biology|biological]] difference among human beings. After the work of [[Charles Darwin]] became well-known, the rise of theories of [[evolution]] led many to consider some races more "evolved" than others. These points of view became very common within the scientific community at the time&mdash;even Darwin, who was an active [[abolitionism|abolitionist]] and considered all humans to be of the same [[species]] (against a trend of polygenism popular in [[anthropology]] at the time), believed that there were inherent biological differences in the mental capacities of different races. Ideologies such as [[social Darwinism]] and [[eugenics]] used and reinforced many of these views.
  
Some scientists argued against biological reenforcement of racism, even if they believed that biological races existed. In the fields of anthropology and biology, however, these were minority positions until the mid-twentieth century. During the rise of [[Nazism]] in [[Germany]], many scientists in Western nations worked to debunk the racial theory on which the regime rested its claims of superiority. This, combined with repulsion to Nazi eugenics and the racial motivations behind the [[Holocaust]], lead to a reorientation of opinion around scientific research on race in the years following [[World War II]]. Changes within scientific disciplines&mdash;such as the rise of [[Franz Boas|Boasian]] school of anthropology in the United States&mdash;also contributed to this shift. Many of the scientific studies which claimed to support racist claims have since been methodologically debunked by scientists with specifically anti-racist agendas, such as [[Stephen Jay Gould]].  
+
Some scientists argued against biological reinforcement of racism, even if they believed that biological races existed. In the fields of anthropology and biology, however, these were minority positions until the mid-twentieth century. During the rise of [[Nazism]] in [[Germany]], many scientists in Western nations worked to debunk the racial theory on which the regime rested its claims of superiority. This, combined with repulsion to Nazi eugenics and the racial motivations behind the [[Holocaust]], lead to a reorientation of opinion around scientific research on race in the years following [[World War II]]. Changes within scientific disciplines&mdash;such as the rise of [[Franz Boas|Boasian]] school of anthropology in the United States&mdash;also contributed to this shift. Many of the scientific studies which claimed to support racist claims have since been methodologically debunked by scientists with specifically anti-racist agendas, such as [[Stephen Jay Gould]].  
 
 
===Individual and Structural racism===
 
  
Racism may be divided into two major subcategories: individual racism and structural  (or institutional) racism.
+
===Individual racism===
 +
Examples of individual racism include an employer not hiring a person, failing to promote, giving harsher duties, imposing harsher working conditions, or firing an employee, in whole or in part due to his race. Individual racism can take any of the following forms:
 +
*'''Racial prejudice''' is pre-formed personal opinions about individuals on the basis of race. (e.g., John thinks that Mary will have bad attribute X solely because Mary is a member of race Y.)
 +
*'''Racial discrimination''' is different treatment of people on the basis of characteristics which may be classified as racial&mdash;including skin color, cultural heritage, and religion. (e.g., Mary refuses to hire John because he is of race Y.) This is a concept not unanimously agreed upon. While this usually refers to discrimination against minority racial groups in Western societies, it can also refer to the opposite situation. This form of discrimination is often called reverse discrimination when it is due to [[affirmative action]] or other attempts to remedy past or current discrimination against minority racial groups.
 +
*'''Cultural racial discrimination''' occurs when members of one [[culture]] build the assumption of inferiority of one or more races into their culturally-maintained image of those races. (e.g., Members of group X are taught to believe that they are members of a superior race, and, consequently, they consider members of other races inferior.)
 +
*'''Same-race racism''' occurs when members of one race associate behaviors or appearances of other members of their race as being related to negative features of another race. Some darker-skinned African Americans dislike lighter-skinned African Americans because of their lighter shade of skin, which may or may not be associated with white parentage at some point in their [[genealogy]]. A form of cultural racism (see above) can also be related to this, where members of a racial group are chastised by members of their own group for co-opting a culture which is perceived to be associated with another race. (e.g., A stigma against "acting white" exists in some African-American communities.)
 +
*'''Reverse racism''' is a pejorative and controversial term used to describe [[attitude]]s, behaviors, and policies which are racially discriminatory in a manner contrary (i.e. reverse) to historical patterns of racial discrimination.  
  
Examples of individual racism include an employer not hiring a person, failing to promote, giving harsher duties, imposing harsher working conditions, or firing an employee, in whole or in part due to his race.
+
===Institutional racism===
 +
Structural or institutional racism involves [[social structure]]s that promote racism. Examples of these types of structures include:
 +
*[[Affirmative action]] is the practice of favoring or benefiting members of a racial minority in areas such as [[college]] admissions and workplace advancement, in an attempt to counter-balance what are perceived as systemic biases towards the racial majority. Though presented as an effort to ensure equal opportunity, opponents of racial quotas in jobs and [[school]]s contend that explicitly factoring race into the application or approval process is a form of institutionalized '''reverse racism''' which unfairly discriminates against racial categories with historically higher admission or approval rates. Proponents contend that racial quotas promote integration and economic equality of groups which have been affected by racism.
 +
*'''Historical, economic, or social disparity''' is a form of discrimination caused by past racism. Deficits in the formal [[education]] and other kinds of preparation in the parents' generation, and racist attitudes and actions of members of the general population affect the present generation of a certain race. (e.g., A member of Race Y, Mary, has her opportunities adversely affected (directly and/or indirectly) by the mistreatment of her ancestors of race Y.)
 +
*'''Racialism''' is a term often found within white separatist [[literature]], referring to a social emphasis on racial origin. Racism implies an assumption of racial superiority and harmful intent, whereas separatists sometimes prefer the term "racialism," indicating a strong interest in matters of race without necessarily assuming superiority or a desire to harm others. Rather, they focus on [[racial segregation]] and "white pride." That said, most English dictionaries and most people make no sharp distinction between "racism" and "racialism." African American [[sociology|sociologist]] [[W.E.B. Du Bois]] argued that racialism is the belief that differences between the races exist, be they biological, social, psychological, or in the realm of the [[soul]]. He defined racism as using a [[belief]] in racial differences to push forward the argument that one's particular race is superior to the others.
 +
*'''Global apartheid''' is a phrase used by those who argue that the international economic, social, and political system is racist and is designed so that a white minority accrues more wealth and power and enjoys more human and legal rights internationally than the non-white world majority.
  
===Related concepts===
+
==Examples of Institutional racism==
*[[Affirmative action]] is the practice of favoring or benefiting members of a racial minority in areas such as [[college]] admissions and workplace advancement, in an attempt to counter-balance what are perceived as systemic biases towards the racial majority. Though presented as an effort to ensure equal opportunity, opponents consider it racially discriminatory.
 
*''Reverse racism'' is a pejorative and controversial term used to describe [[attitude]]s, behaviors, and policies which are racially discriminatory in a manner contrary (i.e. reverse) to historical patterns of racial discrimination. Opponents of racial quotas (such as [[Affirmative Action]] in the [[United States|U.S.]]) in jobs and [[school]]s contend that explicitly factoring race into the application or approval process is a form of institutionalized reverse racism which unfairly discriminates against racial categories with historically higher admission or approval rates. Proponents contend that racial quotas promote integration and economic equality of groups which have been affected by racism.
 
*''Historical, economic, or social disparity'' is a form of discrimination caused by past racism. Deficits in the formal [[education]] and other kinds of preparation in the parents' generation, and racist attitudes and actions of members of the general population affect the present generation of a certain race. (e.g. A member of Race Y, Mary, has her opportunities adversely affected (directly and/or indirectly) by the mistreatment of her ancestors of race Y.)
 
*''Cultural racial discrimination'' occurs when members of one [[culture]] build the assumption of inferiority of one or more races into their culturally-maintained image of those races. (e.g. Members of group X are taught to believe that they are members of a superior race, and, consequently, they consider members of other races inferior.)
 
*''Same-race racism'' occurs when members of one race associate behaviors or appearances of other members of their race as being related to negative features of another race. Some darker-skinned African Americans dislike lighter-skinned African Americans because of their lighter shade of skin, which may or may not be associated with white parentage at some point in their [[genealogy]]. A form of cultural racism (see above) can also be related to this, where members of a racial group are chastized by members of their own group for co-opting a culture which is perceived to be associated with another race. (e.g. A stigma against "acting white" exists in some African-American communities.)
 
*''Racial discrimination'' is different treatment of people on the basis of characteristics which may be classified as racial&mdash;including skin color, cultural heritage, and religion. (e.g. Mary refuses to hire John because he is of race Y.) This is a concept not unanimously agreed upon. While this usually refers to discrimination against minority racial groups in Western societies, it can also refer to the opposite situation. This form of discrimination is often called reverse discrimination when it is due to [[affirmative action]] or other attempts to remedy past or current discrimination against minority racial groups.
 
*''Racialism'' is a term often found within white separatist [[literature]], inferring an social emphasis on racial origin. Racism implies an assumption of racial superiority and harmful intent, whereas separatists sometimes prefer the term "racialism," indicating a strong interest in matters of race without necessarily assuming superiority or a desire to harm others. Rather, they focus on [[racial segregation]] and "white pride." That said, most English dictionaries and most people make no sharp distinction between "racism" and "racialism." African American [[sociology|sociologist]] [[W.E.B. Du Bois]] argued that racialism is the belief that differences between the races exist, be they biological, social, psychological, or in the realm of the [[soul]]. He defined racism as using a [[belief]] in racial differences to push forward the argument that one's particular race is superior to the others.
 
*''Racial prejudice'' is pre-formed personal opinions about individuals on the basis of race. (e.g. John thinks that Mary will have bad attribute X solely because Mary is a member of race Y.)
 
*''Global apartheid'' is a phrase used by those who argue that the international economic, social, and political system is racist and is designed so that a white minority accrues more wealth and power and enjoys more human and legal rights internationally than the non-white world majority.
 
  
==Institutional Racism==
+
See also:  [[Jim Crow Law]]s
  
Racial discrimination is and has been official government policy in several countries. The [[Racism#Racial policy of Nazi Germany|racial policy of Nazi Germany]] is the most famous example, along with [[Racism#Apartheid in South Africa|Apartheid in South Africa]]. In the 1970s, [[Uganda]] expelled tens of thousands of ethnic [[India|Indians]] {{citation needed}}. Until 2003, [[Malaysia]] enforced discriminatory policies limiting access to university education for ethnic [[China|Chinese]] and [[India|Indian]] students who are citizens by birth of Malaysia, and many other policies explicitly favoring [[bumiputra]]s (Malays) remain in force {{citation needed}}.  
+
Racial discrimination is and has been official government policy in several countries. The racial policy of [[Racism#Racial policy of Nazi Germany|Nazi Germany]] is the most famous example, along with [[Racism#Apartheid in South Africa|Apartheid in South Africa]].  
  
In the United States, [[Racism#Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]] were considered an inferior race, to be "civilized" or else relegated to "reservations." In the twentieth century, [[Racial profiling|racial profiling]] of minorities by law enforcement officials is a controversial subject. Law enforcement looks for people who "fit the profile" to commit a crime according to experience and statistics. Some people consider this to be a form of racism. Some claim that profiling young Arab male fliers at airports will only lead to increased recruitment of older, non-Arab, and female terrorists, as well as Arab males who might be mistaken for white males. Some also state that this is unnecessary, as it brings the mistrust of many people. Many critics of racial profiling claim that it is an [[Constitutionality|unconstitutional]] practice because it amounts to questioning individuals on the basis of what crimes they might commit or could possibly commit, instead of what crimes they have actually committed. Thus, it shifts the emphasis from the act itself (the crime) to the person (the "criminal"); [[Michel Foucault]] argued in ''[[Discipline and Punish]]'' (1975) that this was a general tendency of "disciplinary societies", creating the psychological category of "[[delinquent]]".
+
In the United States, [[Racism#Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]] were considered an inferior race, to be "civilized" or else relegated to "reservations." After the end of [[slavery]] following the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], [[Racism#Separate but equal: African Americans after Reconstruction|Separate but equal]] became the legal form of [[racial segregation]]. In the twentieth century, racial profiling of minorities by [[law enforcement]] officials became a controversial subject. Law enforcement looks for people who "fit the profile" to commit a [[crime]] according to experience and [[statistics]]. Some people consider this to be a form of racism.  
  
 
====Racial policy of Nazi Germany====
 
====Racial policy of Nazi Germany====
The '''Racial Policy of Nazi Germany''' refers to the policies and laws implemented by [[Nazism|Nazi]] Germany, asserting the superiority of the "[[Aryan race]]", and including measures aimed primarily against Jews.
+
The '''Racial Policy of Nazi Germany''' refers to the policies and laws implemented by [[Nazism|Nazi]] [[Germany]], asserting the superiority of the [[Aryan]] race, and including measures aimed primarily against [[Judaism|Jews]].
[[Image:Jewish Children in Nazi Germany Exercise Class.jpg|thumb|220px|left|A  Gymnastics lesson from 1936 in a Berlin Jewish school]]
+
[[Image:Jewish Children in Nazi Germany Exercise Class.jpg|thumb|250px|right|A  Gymnastics lesson from 1936 in a Berlin Jewish school]]
  
The origins of the policy lay with the [[Dolchstoßlegende]] ("betrayal legend"), whereby disgruntled German [[nationalism|nationalists]] blamed non-Germans for the loss of [[World War I]]. The [[National Socialist German Workers Party|Nazis]] exploited these sentiments and later developed them into the "Nuremberg laws". The Nuremberg Laws of 1935 employed a pseudo-scientific basis for racial discrimination against Jews. People with four German grandparents were of "German blood," while people were classified as Jews if they descended from three or more Jewish grandparents. Having one or more Jewish grandparents made someone "mixed blood." In the absence of discernible external differences, the Nazis used the religious observance of a person's grandparents to determine their "race."  
+
The origins of the policy lay with the ''Dolchstoßlegende'' ("betrayal legend"), whereby disgruntled German [[nationalism|nationalists]] blamed non-Germans for the loss of [[World War I]]. The Nazis exploited those sentiments and later developed them into the "Nuremberg laws," which employed a pseudo-scientific basis for racial discrimination against Jews: People with four German grandparents were of "German blood," while people were classified as Jews if they descended from three or more Jewish grandparents. Having one or more Jewish grandparents made someone "mixed blood." In the absence of discernible external differences, the Nazis used the religious observance of a person's grandparents to determine their "race."  
  
Though the laws were primarily directed against Jews, other "non-Aryan" people were subject to the laws and to other legislation concerned with "[[racial hygiene]]." Nazi scientist [[Eugen Fischer]] expressed particular concern toward the "[[Rhineland Bastard]]s" - mixed-race offspring of black soldiers who had been stationed in the Rhineland as part of the French army of occupation. He believed in sterilizing these people in order to protect the racial purity of the German population. At least 400 mixed-race children were forcibly sterilized in the Rhineland by 1938, while 400 others were sent to concentration camps. Mixed marriages remained illegal throughout the Nazi's reign.
+
Though the laws were primarily directed against Jews, other "non-Aryan" people were subject to these laws and to other legislation concerned with "racial hygiene." At least 400 mixed-race children were forcibly sterilized, while others were sent to [[concentration camp]]s. Mixed marriages remained illegal throughout the Nazi's reign.
  
 
====Apartheid in South Africa====
 
====Apartheid in South Africa====
[[Image:DurbanSign1989.jpg|thumb|right|200px|"Petty apartheid": sign on Durban beach in English, Afrikaans and Zulu]]
+
[[Apartheid]] (literally "apartness" in [[Afrikaans]] and [[Dutch]]) was a system of [[racial segregation]] enforced in [[South Africa]] from 1948 to 1991. Under apartheid, people were [[law|legally]] classified into a racial group&mdash;most people fell under one of four classifications: White, Black, Indian, and Colored&mdash;and were geographically and forcibly separated from each other on the basis of this legal classification. The Black majority, in particular, legally became citizens of particular "homelands" that were nominally sovereign nations but operated more akin to United States "Indian Reservations" and Canadian "Aboriginal Reserves." In reality, a majority of Black South Africans had never resided in these "homelands" prior to 1948.
'''Apartheid''' (literally "apartness" in [[Afrikaans]] and [[Dutch]]) was a system of [[racial segregation]] enforced in [[South Africa]] from 1948 to 1991. Under apartheid, people were legally classified into a racial group - most people fell under one of four classifications: White, Black, Indian, and Coloured - and were geographically and forcibly separated from each other on the basis of the legal classification. The Black majority, in particular, legally became citizens of particular "homelands" that were nominally sovereign nations but operated more akin to United States "Indian Reservations" and Canadian "Aboriginal Reserves." In reality, a majority of Black South Africans had never resided in these "homelands" prior to 1948.
 
 
 
In practice, this prevented non-white people — even those who lived in white South Africa — from having a [[suffrage|vote]] or influence, restricting their rights to the confines of faraway homelands which they may never have had the opportunity to visit. [[Education in South Africa|Education]], medical care, and other public services were sometimes identified as [[separate but equal]], but those available to non-white people were in fact vastly inferior.
 
 
 
By law, the four racial groups were capitilized. The Coloured group included people of mixed [[Bantu]], [[Khoisan]], and European descent (with some [[Malay people|Malay]] ancestry, especially in the [[Western Cape]]) together with some racially "pure" [[Khoisans]]. The Apartheid bureaucracy devised complex (and often arbitrary) criteria upon the implementation of the Population Registration Act to determine who belonged to the Coloured group. Minor officials would administer tests to determine if someone should be categorized Coloured or Black, or Coloured or White. Different members of the same family found themselves in different racial groups. Further tests determined membership of the various sub-racial groups of the Coloureds. Many Coloureds do not like the term "Coloured," but many South Africans continue to use it in the post-apartheid era. The expressions 'so-called coloured' (Afrikaans ''sogenaamde Kleurlinge'') and 'brown people' (''bruin mense'') have acquired a wide usage in recent years.
 
 
 
Apartheid was implemented by the law. The following restrictions were not only adopted socially but were strictly enforced by law (the [[Reservation of Separate Amenities Act]] specifically allowed government to provide different levels of amenities for the different races):
 
 
 
* Non-white people were not allowed to run businesses or professional practices in areas designated as 'white South Africa' without a permit. Instead, they had to move to the black homelands and set up businesses and practices there.
 
* Transport and civil facilities were segregated.
 
* Black people were excluded from living or working in white areas unless they had a pass. Only black people with "Section 10" rights (those who had migrated to the cities before World War II) were exempt from this provision. White people required passes in "black" areas.
 
** A pass was only issued to a black person with approved work. Spouses and children had to stay behind in non-white areas. Many white households employed black people as domestic workers, who were allowed to live on the premises&mdash; often in small rooms external to the family home.
 
** A pass was issued for one magisterial district confining the holder to that area only.
 
** Being without a valid pass made a person subject to immediate arrest and summary trial, often followed by deportation to the person's "[[Bantustan|homeland]]." Police vans roamed the "white" areas to round up "illegal" black people.
 
 
 
Black areas rarely had plumbing or electricity. Hospitals and ambulances were segregated: the white hospitals were generally of high quality with well-educated staff and ample funds while black hospitals were understaffed and underfunded.
 
  
In the 1970s each black child's education cost the state only one-tenth of each white child's. [[Higher education]] was provided in separate universities and colleges after 1959.
+
By law, the four racial groups were capitalized. The Colored group included people of mixed [[Bantu]], [[Khoisan]], and [[Europe]]an descent (with some [[Malay]] ancestry, especially in the Western Cape). The Apartheid [[bureaucracy]] devised complex (and often arbitrary) criteria upon the implementation of the Population Registration Act to determine who belonged to the Colored group. Minor officials would administer tests to determine if someone should be categorized Colored or Black, or Colored or White. Different members of the same [[family]] found themselves in different racial groups. Further tests determined membership of the various sub-racial groups of the Coloreds.  
  
The government prohibited sex and marriage between the races.
+
[[Image:DurbanSign1989.jpg|thumb|right|220px|"Petty apartheid": sign on Durban beach in English, Afrikaans and Zulu]]
 +
Apartheid was implemented by the law. The following restrictions were not only adopted socially but were strictly enforced by law (the Reservation of Separate Amenities Act specifically allowed the [[government]] to provide different levels of amenities for the different races):
  
Cinemas in white areas were not allowed to admit blacks. Most restaurants and hotels in white areas were not allowed to admit blacks, unless the government had given prior permission. Ambulances, bridges, drive-in cinema parking spaces, graveyards, maternity wards, parks, pedestrian crossings, public toilets, taxis and theatres were also segregated. Trains and buses were segregated. Black buses, known as "green" buses because they had a green marker on the front windscreen, stopped at black bus stops and white buses at white ones. Public beaches were racially segregated, with the best ones reserved for whites{{ref|beaches}}. Public swimming pools and libraries were also segregated. There were few black pools or libraries.
+
* Non-white people were not allowed to run [[business]]es or professional practices in areas designated as "white South Africa" without a permit. Instead, they had to move to the black homelands and set up businesses and practices there.  
 +
* [[Transportation]] and civil facilities were segregated.
 +
* Black people were excluded from living or working in white areas unless they had a pass. Only black people with "Section 10" rights (those who had migrated to the cities before [[World War II]]) were exempt from this provision. White people required passes in "black" areas.
  
Black Africans were prohibited from attending "white" churches under the [[Churches Native Laws Amendment Act (1957)]]. This was never rigidly enforced, and churches were one of the few places races could mix without the interference of the law.
+
In practice, this prevented non-white people&mdash;even those who lived in white South Africa&mdash;from having a vote or any influence, restricting their rights to the confines of faraway homelands which they may never have had the opportunity to visit. [[Education]], [[medicine|medical]] care, and other public services were sometimes identified as "separate but equal," but those available to non-white people were in fact vastly inferior. The government prohibited sex and [[marriage]] between the races.
 
 
Although [[trade union]]s for "Black" and "Coloured" workers had existed since the early 20th century, it was not until the 1980s reforms that trade unions for black workers were recognized by the government. The minimum yearly taxable income for "Black" and "Coloured" people was 360 [[South African rand|Rand]] (30 Rand a month), while the "White" threshold was much higher, at 750 Rand (62.5 Rand per month).
 
  
 
Apartheid pervaded South African culture and law. The media reinforced the perception of non-white South Africans as second-class citizens, and the lack of opportunities for the races to mix in a social setting entrenched social distance between people.
 
Apartheid pervaded South African culture and law. The media reinforced the perception of non-white South Africans as second-class citizens, and the lack of opportunities for the races to mix in a social setting entrenched social distance between people.
  
Many of the inequalities created and maintained by apartheid still remain in South Africa. The country has one of the most unequal income distribution patterns in the world: approximately 60% of the population earns less than R42,000 per annum (about US$7,000), whereas 2.2% of the population has an income exceeding R360,000 per annum (about US$50,000) [http://www.wsws.org/articles/2004/may2004/safr-m21.shtml]. [[Poverty]] in South Africa is still largely defined by skin colour, with black people making up around 90% of the country's poor [http://www.wsws.org/articles/2004/may2004/safr-m21.shtml]. Subsequently, the government has implemented a policy of [[Black Economic Empowerment]]. Eighty percent of farming land still remains in the hands of white farmers [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4273890.stm]; the requirement that claimants for restoration of land seized during the apartheid era make a contribution towards the cost of the land "excludes the poorest layers of the population altogether" [http://www.wsws.org/articles/2004/may2004/safr-m21.shtml], while a large number of [[South African Farmer Murders|white farmers]] have been murdered [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,2772-2100080,00.html] since 1994 in what campaign groups [http://www.stopboergenocide.com/] claim is a campaign of genocide.
+
Many of the inequalities created and maintained by apartheid still remain in South Africa. In 2004, the country had one of the most unequal income distribution patterns in the world: [[Poverty]] in South Africa is still largely defined by skin color, with black people making up around 90 percent of the country's poor .<ref>[http://www.wsws.org/articles/2004/may2004/safr-m21.shtml United Nations report highlights growing inequality in South Africa] ''World Socialist Web Site'', May 21, 2004. Retrieved June 16, 2020.</ref>
  
 
====Native Americans in the United States====
 
====Native Americans in the United States====
'''Native Americans in the United States''' (also known as '''Indians''', '''American Indians''', '''Amerindians''', '''Amerinds''', or '''Indigenous''', '''Aboriginal''' or '''Original''' peoples or '''Americans''') are the [[indigenous peoples]] and their descendants within the territory that is now encompassed by the [[continental United States]] and parts of [[Alaska]].  
+
'''Native Americans in the United States''' (also known as '''Indians''', '''American Indians''', '''Amerindians''', '''Amerinds''', or '''Indigenous''', '''Aboriginal''' or '''Original''' peoples or '''Americans''') are the indigenous peoples and their descendants within the territory that is now encompassed by the continental United States and parts of Alaska.  
  
From the 15th to 19th centruy, the [[European colonization of the Americas]] decimated the population of the Native Americans through displacement, disease, warfare, and enslavement.
+
From the fifteenth to the nineteenth century, the European colonization of the Americas decimated the population of the Native Americans through displacement, [[disease]], [[war]]fare, and enslavement.
  
In the 19th century, the incessant Westward expansion of the [[United States]] incrementally compelled large numbers of Native Americans to resettle further west - sometimes by force and almost always reluctantly. Under President [[Andrew Jackson]], Congress passed the [[Indian Removal Act]] of 1830, which authorized the President to conduct treaties to exchange Native American land east of the [[Mississippi River]] for lands west of the river. As many as 100,000 Native Americans eventually relocated to the West as a result of this [[Indian Removal]] policy. In theory, relocation was supposed to be voluntary (and many Native Americans did remain in the East), but in practice great pressure was put on Native American leaders to sign removal treaties. Arguably the most egregious violation of the stated intention of the removal policy was the [[Treaty of New Echota]], which was signed by a dissident faction of [[Cherokee]]s but not by the elected leadership. President [[Martin Van Buren]]'s brutal enforcement of the treaty resulted in the deaths of an estimated 4,000 Cherokees (mostly from disease) on the [[Trail of Tears]].
+
In the nineteenth century, the incessant Westward expansion of the United States incrementally compelled large numbers of Native Americans to resettle further west&mdash;sometimes by force and almost always reluctantly. Under President [[Andrew Jackson]], Congress passed the [[Indian Removal Act of 1830]], which authorized the President to conduct [[treaty|treaties]] to exchange Native American land east of the [[Mississippi River]] for lands west of the river. As many as 100,000 Native Americans eventually relocated to the West as a result of this Indian Removal policy. In theory, relocation was supposed to be voluntary (and many Native Americans did remain in the East), but in practice great pressure was put on Native American leaders to sign removal treaties. Arguably the most egregious violation of the stated intention of the removal policy was the Treaty of New Echota, which was signed by a dissident faction of [[Cherokee]]s but not by the elected leadership. President [[Martin Van Buren]]'s brutal enforcement of the treaty resulted in the deaths of an estimated 4,000 Cherokees (mostly from disease) on the "Trail of Tears."
  
Conflicts, generally known as "[[Indian Wars]]," broke out between [[United States|U.S.]] forces and many different tribes. U.S. government authorities entered numerous treaties during this period but later abrogated many for various reasons. Well-known military engagements include the Native American victory at the [[Battle of Little Bighorn]] in 1876 and the massacre of Native Americans at [[Wounded Knee Massacre|Wounded Knee]] in 1890. On [[January 31]], [[1876]], the United States government ordered all remaining Native Americans to move into [[Indian reservation|reservations]] or reserves. This, together with the near-extinction of the [[American Bison]] that many tribes had lived on, set about the downturn of [[Prairie Culture]] that had developed around the use of the horse for hunting, travel, and trading.
+
[[Image:Bismarck Indian School.jpg|thumb|275px|right|Students at the Bismarck Indian School in the early twentieth century]]
 +
American policy toward Native Americans has been an evolving process. In the late nineteenth century, reformers, in efforts to "civilize" Indians, adapted the practice of educating native children in Indian Boarding Schools. These schools, which were primarily run by [[Christianity|Christian]]s, proved traumatic to Native American children, who were forbidden to speak their native languages, taught Christianity instead of their native [[religion]]s, and in other ways forced to abandon their various Native American identities and adopt European-American culture. There are also many documented cases of [[sexual abuse|sexual]], physical, and mental abuses occurring at these schools.<ref>Andrea Smith,
 +
[https://laratracehentz.wordpress.com/2015/10/09/soul-wound-the-legacy-of-native-american-schools/ Soul Wound: The Legacy of Native American Schools] ''Amnesty International Magazine'', October 9, 2015. Retrieved June 16, 2020. </ref>
  
[[Image:Bismarck Indian School.jpg|thumb|left|Students at the Bismarck Indian School in the early 20th century]]
+
The Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 gave United States citizenship to Native Americans, in part because of an interest by many to see them merged with the American mainstream, and also because of the heroic service of many Native American veterans in [[World War I]].
American policy toward Native Americans has been an evolving process. In the late [[nineteenth century]], reformers, in efforts to "[[civilization|civilize]]" Indians, adapted the practice of educating native children in [[Indian Boarding School]]s. These schools, which were primarily run by [[Christianity|Christian]]s,<ref>[http://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewarticle.asp?AuthorID=2616&id=7375
 
authorsden.com ''What Were Boarding Schools Like for Indian Youth?'']</ref> proved traumatic to Native American children, who were forbidden to speak their [[Indigenous languages of the Americas#Greenland, Canada & USA|native languages]], taught [[Christianity]] instead of their native religions, and in other ways forced to abandon their various Native American identities<ref>[http://www.sacbee.com/static/archive/news/projects/native/day2_main.html
 
California's Lost Tribes ''Long-suffering urban Indians find roots in ancient rituals'']</ref> and adopt European-American culture. There are also many documented cases of sexual, physical, and mental abuses occurring at these schools.<ref>[http://www.prsp.bc.ca PRSP Disabilities ''Developmental and learning disabilities'']</ref><ref>
 
[http://www.amnestyusa.org/amnestynow/soulwound.html Amnesty International USA ''Soul Wound: The Legacy of Native American Schools'']</ref>
 
  
The [[Indian Citizenship Act of 1924]] gave United States citizenship to Native Americans, in part because of an interest by many to see them merged with the American mainstream, and also because of the heroic service of many Native American veterans in [[World War I]].
+
====Separate but equal: African Americans after Reconstruction====
 +
After the [[American Civil War]] (1861–1865) brought about the end of [[slavery]], ''Plessy v. Ferguson'' (1896) became the ''de facto'' standard throughout the U.S. Southern states and represented the institionalization of the [[racial segregation|segregation]] period. In theory, African Americans and European Americans received the same services ([[school]]s, [[hospital]]s, water fountains, bathrooms, etc.), but each "race" had a distinct facility. In practice, the services and facilities reserved for African Americans were frequently of lower quality than those reserved for white people; for example, many African-American schools received less public funding per student than nearby white schools. The legitimacy of such laws was upheld by the [[Supreme Court of the United States|U.S. Supreme Court]] in the ''Plessy'' case.  
  
===="Separate but equal:" African Americans after Reconstruction====
+
Attorneys for the [[NAACP]] employed the phrase "Separate but equal" during the [[Supreme Court]] litigation of ''Brown v. Board of Education'' (1954). It referred to the phrase "equal but separate" used in ''Plessy v. Ferguson'' (1896) as a custom of ''de jure'' [[racial segregation]] enacted into [[law]]. The repeal of "separate but equal" laws was a key focus of the [[American Civil Rights Movement|civil rights movement]] of the 1950s and 1960s. In ''Brown v. Board of Education'' (1954), the Supreme Court outlawed segregated public education facilities for black and white people at the state level; the companion case of ''Bolling v. Sharpe'' outlawed such practices at the Federal level in the District of Columbia.
  
Attorneys for the [[NAACP]] employed the phrase '''"Separate but equal"''' during the [[Supreme Court]] litigation of ''[[Brown v. Board of Education]]'' (1954). It referred to the phrase "equal but separate" used in ''[[Plessy v. Ferguson]]'' (1896) as a custom of ''[[de jure]]'' [[racial segregation]] enacted into [[law]].
+
==Racism in the twenty-first century==
 
+
Since the last quarter of the twentieth century, "racism" has become a pejorative term, and identification of a group or person as "racist" is almost always controversial. A number of international [[treaty|treaties]] have sought to end racism. The [[United Nations]] uses a definition of "racial discrimination" laid out in the ''International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination'' and adopted in 1966:
The NAACP, led by later Supreme Court Justice [[Thurgood Marshall]], was successful in challenging the [[constitutionality]] of ''Plessy'' and the Court voted to [[overturn]] 60 years of the racially discriminatory law.
 
 
 
After the [[American Civil War]] (1861–1865) brought about the end of [[slavery]], ''Plessy'' became the de-facto standard throughout the [[U.S. Southern states]] and represented the institionalization of the [[segregation]] period. In theory, [[African American]]s and [[European American]]s received the same services (schools, hospitals, water fountains, bathrooms, etc.), but each "race" had a distinct facility. In practice, the services and facilities reserved for African Americans were frequently of lower quality than those reserved for white people; for example, many African-American schools received less public funding per student than nearby white schools.
 
 
 
The legitimacy of such laws was upheld by the [[Supreme Court of the United States|U.S. Supreme Court]] in the [[1896]] case of ''[[Plessy v. Ferguson]]'', '''163 U.S. 537.'''  The repeal of "separate but equal" laws was a key focus of the [[American Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968)|civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s]]. In ''[[Brown v. Board of Education]]'', '''347 U.S. 483''' ([[1954]]), the Supreme Court outlawed segregated public education facilities for black and white people at the state level; the companion case of ''[[Bolling v. Sharpe]]'', '''347 U.S. 497''' outlawed such practices at the Federal level in the [[District of Columbia]].
 
  
==Racism in the twenty-first century==
+
<blockquote>''any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, color, descent, or national or ethnic origin which has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other field of public life.''<ref>[https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/cerd.aspx International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination] ''United Nations Office of the High Commissioner''. Retrieved June 16, 2020.</ref></blockquote>
Since the last quarter of the twentieth century, "racism" has become a [[pejorative]] term, and identification of a group or person as ''racist'' is almost always controversial. A number of international treaties have sought to end racism. The [[United Nations]] uses a definition of '''racial discrimination''' laid out in the ''International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination'' and adopted in 1966:
 
  
:''...any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, color, descent, or national or ethnic origin which has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other field of public life.''.
+
The [[European Union]], following up with a positive course of action following the 1997 "Year against Discrimination," condemns multiple factors for discrimination, not the least of which is race:  
 +
<blockquote>Article 21 of the charter prohibits discrimination on any ground such as sex, race, color, ethnic or social origin, genetic features, language, religion or belief, political or any other opinion, membership of a national minority, property, birth, disability, age or sexual orientation and also discrimination on the grounds of nationality.''<ref> [https://fra.europa.eu/en/eu-charter/article/21-non-discrimination#:~:text=Article%2021%20%2D%20Non%2Ddiscrimination,sexual%20orientation%20shall%20be%20prohibited. Article 21 - Non-discrimination] ''EU Charter of Fundamental Rights''. Retrieved June 16, 2020.</ref></blockquote>
  
The European Union condemns multiple factors for [[discrimination]], not the least of which is race: "Article 21 of the charter prohibits discrimination on any ground such as sex, race, color, ethnic or social origin, genetic features, language, religion or belief, political or any other opinion, membership of a national minority, property, birth, disability, age or sexual orientation and also discrimination on the grounds of nationality."[http://europa.eu.int/comm/justice_home/fsj/rights/discrimination/printer/fsj_rights_discrim_en.htm]
+
Thus, as human society moved into the new millennium, racism was recognized as unacceptable, and efforts have been increased to end its practice once and for all.
  
==References==
+
==Notes==
 
<references/>
 
<references/>
  
== Bibliography ==
+
== References ==
  
* Elazar Barkan, ''The retreat of scientific racism: changing concepts of race in Britain and the United States between the world wars'' (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1992).
+
*Barkan, Elazar. ''The retreat of scientific racism: changing concepts of race in Britain and the United States between the world wars.'' New York: Cambridge University Press, 1992. ISBN 978-0521458757
* Bruce Dain, ''A hideous monster of the mind: American race theory in the early republic'' (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2002). (18th century US racial theory)
+
*Bauer, Yehuda. ''A History Of The Holocaust.'' New York: F. Watts, 1982. ISBN 0531098621.  
*Claude Lévi-Strauss, 1952. ''Race and History'' (UNESCO)
+
*Dain, Bruce. ''A hideous monster of the mind: American race theory in the early republic.'' Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2002. ISBN 0674009460
*Vincent F. Rocchio, ''Reel Racism. Confronting Hollywood's Construction of Afro-American Culture'', Westview Press 2000
+
*Friedländer, Saul. ''Nazi Germany and the Jews Volume 1 The Years of Persecution, 1933-1939.'' New York: HarperCollins, 1997. ISBN 0060190426
* Stokes, DaShanne. (In Press) [http://www.geocities.com/eaglefeatherlaw/stokes.article.html ''Legalized Segregation and the Denial of Religious Freedom'']
+
* Kipling, Rudyard. ''Kipling’s Verse: Definitive Edition.'' New York: Doubleday, 1940.
* Ann Laura Stoler, "Racial histories and their regimes of truth," ''Political Power and Social Theory'', 11 (1997): 183-206. ([[historiography]] of race and racism)
+
*Lévi-Strauss, Claude. ''Race and History''. Franklin Classics, 2018. ISBN 978-0343291396
*[[Pierre-André Taguieff]], 1987. ''La Force du préjugé. Essai sur le racisme et ses doubles'', etc. (one among many others books on the subject) (Tel Gallimard, La Découverte) ISBN 2070719774 {{fr icon}}
+
*Peukert, Detler and  R. Deveson (Translator). ''Inside Nazi Germany: conformity, opposition and racism in everyday life.'' London: Penguin Books Ltd, 1989. ISBN 978-0140228458
 
+
*Richter, Daniel K. ''Facing East from Indian Country: A Native History of Early America,'' New Ed. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press, 2003. ISBN 0674011171
*Bauer, Yehuda ''A History Of The Holocaust'', New York: F. Watts, 1982 ISBN 0531098621.  
+
*Rocchio, Vincent F. ''Reel Racism. Confronting Hollywood's Construction of Afro-American Culture.'' Westview Press, 2000. ISBN 0813367107
*Friedländer, Saul ''Nazi Germany and the Jews Volume 1 The Years of Persecution, 1933-1939'', New York: HarperCollins, 1997 ISBN 0060190426
+
*Taguieff, Pierre-André. ''La Force du préjugé. Essai sur le racisme et ses doubles.'' Tel Gallimard, La Découverte, 1987. ISBN 2070719774
*Peukert, Detlev ''Inside Nazi Germany: conformity, opposition and racism in everyday life'' London : Batsford, 1987 ISBN 071345217X.
+
*Wolf, Eric R. ''Europe and the People without History.'' Berkeley: University of California Press, 1982. ISBN 0520048989
  
 
==External links==
 
==External links==
 +
All links retrieved December 7, 2022.
 +
* [http://www.pbs.org/race Race: The Power of an Illusion], an in-depth website presenting the argument that while race is a biological fiction, racism permeates the structure of society.
 +
* George W. Gill [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/first/gill.html argues here for the biological concept of "race"] and, in a matching article, C. Loring Brace [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/first/brace.html argues against the existence of "race" as a biological entity] ''Nova Online''.
 +
* [http://www.globalissues.org/HumanRights/Racism.asp Racism from Global Issues]
 +
* [http://www.irr.org.uk/ Institute of Race Relations]
 +
* [https://www.adl.org/racism Racism] ''Anti-Defamation League''.
  
* From ''Nova Online'': George W. Gill [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/first/gill.html argues here for the biological concept of "race"] and, in a matching article, C. Loring Brace [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/first/brace.html argues against the existence of "race" as a biological entity].
 
* From ''California Newsreel'': [http://www.pbs.org/race Race: The Power of an Illusion], an in-depth website (companion to a [http://www.newsreel.org/nav/title.asp?tc=CN0149 California Newsreel film]), presenting the argument that while race is a biological fiction, racism permeates the structure of society.
 
:*And from [[American Renaissance (magazine)|American Renaissance]], a "pro-white" publication, [http://www.amren.com/0306issue/0306issue.html#article1 Race Denial: The Power of a Delusion], a detailed critique seeking to refute the film.
 
* [http://www.globalissues.org/HumanRights/Racism.asp Racism from Global Issues]
 
* [http://www.irr.org.uk/ Institute for Race Relations]
 
*[http://www.rationalrevolution.net/articles/darwin_nazism.htm The Mis-portrayal of Darwin as a Racist] - Refutes claims that Darwin was a racist or that his views inspired the Nazis
 
  
 
{{Credit5|Racism|63940045|History_of_South_Africa_in_the_apartheid_era|64526265|Racial_policy_of_Nazi_Germany|59729672|Native_Americans_in_the_United_States|64668746|Separate_but_equal|67552407|}}
 
{{Credit5|Racism|63940045|History_of_South_Africa_in_the_apartheid_era|64526265|Racial_policy_of_Nazi_Germany|59729672|Native_Americans_in_the_United_States|64668746|Separate_but_equal|67552407|}}

Latest revision as of 17:19, 16 April 2023


An African-American man drinks out of the "colored only" water cooler at a racially segregated street car terminal in the United States in 1939.

Racism refers to various beliefs maintaining that the essential value of an individual can be determined according to a perceived or ascribed racial category and that social discrimination by race is therefore justifiable. Racial prejudice often includes the belief that people of different races differ in aptitudes and abilities, such as intelligence, physical prowess, or virtue. Most individuals who subscribe to racial categories believe that different races can be placed on a ranked, hierarchical scale. Racism has gone through a process of increasing occurrence and severity as people of different races encountered each other; from discriminatory attitudes, to genocide, to the establishment of social structures institutionalizing racial segregation.

Finally, in the era of globalized society, racism is now officially condemned by international bodies such as the United Nations and the European Union, as well as by numerous states. Thus, the idea of racism has reached the point where it is considered unacceptable, and the idea that we are one human family has taken root.

Definition

Racism is defined as the predication of decisions and policies on considerations of race for the purpose of subordinating a racial group and maintaining control over that group. Organizations and institutions that practice racism discriminate against and marginalize a class of people who share a common racial designation. Racism can more narrowly refer to a system of oppression, such as institutional racism, that is based on the idea of one race's superiority over other races. The term "racism" is usually applied to the dominant group in such a society, because that group typically has the means to oppress others. However, "racism" can be equally applied to any individual or group(s), regardless of social status or dominance. By definition, one who practices racism is known as a racist.

Racism can be overt or subtle, and there are two closely related forms: individuals acting against other individuals and one community acting against another. These are called individual and institutional racism, respectively. Individual racism consists of overt acts by individuals, which can directly cause death, injury, or the destruction of property. Institutional racism is often more difficult to identify but no less destructive. It often originates in the operation of established and respected forces in society and, therefore, it may receive less public condemnation than does individual racism.

Racism is to be distinguished from "racialism," which W.E.B. Du Bois argued was the belief that differences between the races exist, be they biological, social, psychological, or in the realm of the soul. He then went on to argue that racism is using this belief to push forward the argument that one's particular race is superior to the others. Therefore, Du Bois separates the conditions of racism from racism itself.

Debates over the origins of racism often suffer from a lack of clarity over the term. Many use the term "racism" to refer to more general phenomena, such as xenophobia (fear of other races) and ethnocentrism. Attempts have been made to clearly distinguish those phenomena from racism as an ideology or from scientific racism, which has little to do with actual xenophobia.

History of racism

Ethnic conflicts

Racism has been conflated with earlier forms of ethnic and national conflict. In most cases, ethno-national conflict conveys a struggle over land and strategic resources. In certain historical examples, ethnicity and nationalism were harnessed to rally combatants in wars between great religious empires (e.g., the Muslim Turks and the Catholic Austro-Hungarians). Notions of race and racism often have played central roles in such ethnic conflicts. Historically, when an adversary was identified as "other," based on notions of race or ethnicity (particularly when "other" is construed as "inferior"), the means employed by the self-presumed "superior" party to appropriate territory, human chattel, or material wealth often have been more ruthless, more brutal, and less constrained by moral or ethical considerations.

During the Valladolid controversy in the middle of the sixteenth century, people like Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda argued that the Native Americans were natural slaves because they had no "souls." In Asia, the Chinese and Japanese Empires were both strong colonial powers, with the Chinese making colonies and vassal states of much of East Asia throughout history and the Japanese Empire doing the same in the nineteenth-twentieth centuries. In both cases, the Asian imperial powers believed they were ethnically and racially superior to their vassals, and entitled to be their masters.

Members of the second Ku Klux Klan at a rally in 1922.

In the Western world, racism evolved, encompassed the doctrine of "white supremacy," and helped fuel the European exploration, conquest, and colonization of much of the rest of the world— especially after Christopher Columbus reached the Americas.

One example of the brutalizing and dehumanizing effects of racism was the attempt to deliberately infect Native Americans with smallpox during Pontiac's Rebellion in 1763, itself a war intended to ethnically cleanse the "other" (Anglo-Americans) from Native American land; each side "othered" the other. According to historian Daniel Richter, Pontiac's Rebellion introduced "the novel idea that all native people were 'Indians,' that all Euro-Americans were 'Whites,' and that all on one side must unite to destroy the other" to both sides of the conflict.[1]

It has also been argued that racism surfaced more recently—as late as the 1800s—due to the need for a justification for slavery in the United States. Maintaining that Africans were "subhuman" was the only loophole in the prevalent ideal that "all men are created equal." Theories about "race" developed, allowing many to justify the differences in position and treatment of people whom they categorized as belonging to different races.[2] Racism did not end with the U.S. Civil War, however. Hate groups such as the Ku Klux Klan formed during reconstruction in an attempt to disenfranchise, threaten, and subordinate African Americans.

European colonialism

Main article: Colonialism

Authors such as Hannah Arendt, who wrote The Origins of Totalitarianism in 1951, have pointed out how the racist ideology ("popular racism") that developed at the end of the nineteenth century helped legitimize the imperialist conquests of foreign territories and crimes that ensued (such as the Herero and Namaqua genocide in 1904-1907). French philosopher Auguste Comte's positivist ideology of social progress as a consequence of scientific progress, led many Europeans to believe in the inherent superiority of the "White Race" over non-white races.[3] Rudyard Kipling's poem The White Man's Burden (1899), serves as one of the most famous illustrations of this belief.[4]

Racist ideology thus helped legitimize subjugation, slavery, and the dismantling of the traditional societies of indigenous peoples. Racist rationalizations caused many people to consider such actions humanitarian obligations. Other colonialists recognized the depravity of their actions but persisted for personal gain. Some Europeans objected to the injustices caused by colonialism and lobbied on behalf of aboriginal peoples. Thus, when the so-called "Hottentot Venus" was displayed in England in the beginning of the nineteenth century, the African Association publicly opposed itself to the shameful exhibition. Moreover, the same year that Kipling published his poem, Joseph Conrad published Heart of Darkness (1899), a clear criticism of the Congo Free State owned by Leopold II of Belgium.

Human "zoos" bolstered popular racism by connecting it to scientific racism: people of different races were both objects of public curiosity and of anthropology and anthropometry.[5] Joice Heth, an African-American slave, was displayed by P. T. Barnum in 1836, a few years after the exhibition of Saartjie Bartman, the "Hottentot Venus." Such exhibitions became common in the New Imperialism period and remained so until World War II. Congolese pygmy, Ota Benga, was displayed in 1906 by eugenicist Madison Grant, head of the Bronx Zoo, as an attempt to illustrate the "missing link" between human beings and the orangutan. Thus, racism became linked with Darwinism, creating the ideology of social Darwinism, which tried to ground itself in Darwin's scientific discoveries.

Slavery in the United States

Main article: Slavery
Mississippi Ku-Klux members in the disguises in which they were captured

Contention over the morality and legality of the institution of slavery was one of the cardinal issues which led to the U.S. Civil War. The failed attempt at secession by the Confederacy of the United States led to the Emancipation Proclamation, which was the official end of legal slavery in the United States.

Emancipated African Americans in the United States still had to struggle against institutional racism, forced segregation, violation of voting rights, and even terrorism. The Ku Klux Klan (KKK)—perhaps the most notorious racist organization—formed shortly after emancipation. The KKK espouses racist ideologies and enforces discriminatory cultural norms with murderous violence, or the threat thereof.

Fascism

Main articles: Fascism and Nazism

The fascist regimes, which rose to power in Europe (particularly Germany and Italy) and Japan before World War II, advocated and implemented racist, xenophobic, and often genocidal policies and attitudes. While racism, xenophobia, and genocide were not new, the scope of the atrocities committed by the German Nazis and the Japanese Imperialists was without precedent.

Anti-Semitism

Main article: Anti-Semitism

Anti-Semitism is a specific case of racism targeting the Jewish people, although scholars argue whether it should be considered a sui generis species or not. For example, in the Russian Empire, official segregation of the Russian Jews in the Pale of Settlement since the early 1800s was compounded by the 1882 May Laws. Waves of anti-Semitic pogroms (riots against a particular group), in many cases state-sponsored, proliferated from 1881-1884, 1902-1906, and 1914-1921. The term "anti-Semitism" is deceptive because "Semitic" peoples technically include both the Arabs and the Hebrews, but "anti-Semitism" only refers to the latter.

Scholars distinguish traditional, Christian anti-Semitism, which derives from the Biblical account of deicide (literally meaning "God-killing" referring to the execution of Jesus by crucifixion), with racial anti-Semitism, which ultimately led to the Holocaust. The State of Israel was established in 1948, when many Jews and Gentiles considered the creation of a Jewish nation-state (which was the aim of Zionism) the only way of acquiring real protection from possible future genocides. At the Second Vatican Council in 1965, the Roman Catholic Church cleared the Jews from allegations of deicide.

Types of racism

Racism may be expressed individually, through explicit and implicit thoughts, feelings, or acts, or socially, through institutions that promote inequalities among "races," as in institutional racism. Scientific racism is the use of scientific arguments to support belief in differences among races.

Scientific racism

Nott and Gliddon's Indigenous races of the earth (1857) used misleading imagery to suggest that "Negroes" ranked between "whites" and chimpanzees. Note the different angles at which the "white" and "Negro" skulls are positioned. Nott and Gliddon's work is considered one of the classics of scientific racism.

Scientific racism refers to the use of science (or the veneer of science) to justify and support racist beliefs. The concept goes back at least to the early eighteenth century, though it gained most of its influence in the mid-nineteenth century. Works like Gobineau's An Essay on the Inequality of the Human Races (1853-1855) attempted to frame racism within the terms of biological difference among human beings. After the work of Charles Darwin became well-known, the rise of theories of evolution led many to consider some races more "evolved" than others. These points of view became very common within the scientific community at the time—even Darwin, who was an active abolitionist and considered all humans to be of the same species (against a trend of polygenism popular in anthropology at the time), believed that there were inherent biological differences in the mental capacities of different races. Ideologies such as social Darwinism and eugenics used and reinforced many of these views.

Some scientists argued against biological reinforcement of racism, even if they believed that biological races existed. In the fields of anthropology and biology, however, these were minority positions until the mid-twentieth century. During the rise of Nazism in Germany, many scientists in Western nations worked to debunk the racial theory on which the regime rested its claims of superiority. This, combined with repulsion to Nazi eugenics and the racial motivations behind the Holocaust, lead to a reorientation of opinion around scientific research on race in the years following World War II. Changes within scientific disciplines—such as the rise of Boasian school of anthropology in the United States—also contributed to this shift. Many of the scientific studies which claimed to support racist claims have since been methodologically debunked by scientists with specifically anti-racist agendas, such as Stephen Jay Gould.

Individual racism

Examples of individual racism include an employer not hiring a person, failing to promote, giving harsher duties, imposing harsher working conditions, or firing an employee, in whole or in part due to his race. Individual racism can take any of the following forms:

  • Racial prejudice is pre-formed personal opinions about individuals on the basis of race. (e.g., John thinks that Mary will have bad attribute X solely because Mary is a member of race Y.)
  • Racial discrimination is different treatment of people on the basis of characteristics which may be classified as racial—including skin color, cultural heritage, and religion. (e.g., Mary refuses to hire John because he is of race Y.) This is a concept not unanimously agreed upon. While this usually refers to discrimination against minority racial groups in Western societies, it can also refer to the opposite situation. This form of discrimination is often called reverse discrimination when it is due to affirmative action or other attempts to remedy past or current discrimination against minority racial groups.
  • Cultural racial discrimination occurs when members of one culture build the assumption of inferiority of one or more races into their culturally-maintained image of those races. (e.g., Members of group X are taught to believe that they are members of a superior race, and, consequently, they consider members of other races inferior.)
  • Same-race racism occurs when members of one race associate behaviors or appearances of other members of their race as being related to negative features of another race. Some darker-skinned African Americans dislike lighter-skinned African Americans because of their lighter shade of skin, which may or may not be associated with white parentage at some point in their genealogy. A form of cultural racism (see above) can also be related to this, where members of a racial group are chastised by members of their own group for co-opting a culture which is perceived to be associated with another race. (e.g., A stigma against "acting white" exists in some African-American communities.)
  • Reverse racism is a pejorative and controversial term used to describe attitudes, behaviors, and policies which are racially discriminatory in a manner contrary (i.e. reverse) to historical patterns of racial discrimination.

Institutional racism

Structural or institutional racism involves social structures that promote racism. Examples of these types of structures include:

  • Affirmative action is the practice of favoring or benefiting members of a racial minority in areas such as college admissions and workplace advancement, in an attempt to counter-balance what are perceived as systemic biases towards the racial majority. Though presented as an effort to ensure equal opportunity, opponents of racial quotas in jobs and schools contend that explicitly factoring race into the application or approval process is a form of institutionalized reverse racism which unfairly discriminates against racial categories with historically higher admission or approval rates. Proponents contend that racial quotas promote integration and economic equality of groups which have been affected by racism.
  • Historical, economic, or social disparity is a form of discrimination caused by past racism. Deficits in the formal education and other kinds of preparation in the parents' generation, and racist attitudes and actions of members of the general population affect the present generation of a certain race. (e.g., A member of Race Y, Mary, has her opportunities adversely affected (directly and/or indirectly) by the mistreatment of her ancestors of race Y.)
  • Racialism is a term often found within white separatist literature, referring to a social emphasis on racial origin. Racism implies an assumption of racial superiority and harmful intent, whereas separatists sometimes prefer the term "racialism," indicating a strong interest in matters of race without necessarily assuming superiority or a desire to harm others. Rather, they focus on racial segregation and "white pride." That said, most English dictionaries and most people make no sharp distinction between "racism" and "racialism." African American sociologist W.E.B. Du Bois argued that racialism is the belief that differences between the races exist, be they biological, social, psychological, or in the realm of the soul. He defined racism as using a belief in racial differences to push forward the argument that one's particular race is superior to the others.
  • Global apartheid is a phrase used by those who argue that the international economic, social, and political system is racist and is designed so that a white minority accrues more wealth and power and enjoys more human and legal rights internationally than the non-white world majority.

Examples of Institutional racism

See also: Jim Crow Laws

Racial discrimination is and has been official government policy in several countries. The racial policy of Nazi Germany is the most famous example, along with Apartheid in South Africa.

In the United States, Native Americans were considered an inferior race, to be "civilized" or else relegated to "reservations." After the end of slavery following the Civil War, Separate but equal became the legal form of racial segregation. In the twentieth century, racial profiling of minorities by law enforcement officials became a controversial subject. Law enforcement looks for people who "fit the profile" to commit a crime according to experience and statistics. Some people consider this to be a form of racism.

Racial policy of Nazi Germany

The Racial Policy of Nazi Germany refers to the policies and laws implemented by Nazi Germany, asserting the superiority of the Aryan race, and including measures aimed primarily against Jews.

A Gymnastics lesson from 1936 in a Berlin Jewish school

The origins of the policy lay with the Dolchstoßlegende ("betrayal legend"), whereby disgruntled German nationalists blamed non-Germans for the loss of World War I. The Nazis exploited those sentiments and later developed them into the "Nuremberg laws," which employed a pseudo-scientific basis for racial discrimination against Jews: People with four German grandparents were of "German blood," while people were classified as Jews if they descended from three or more Jewish grandparents. Having one or more Jewish grandparents made someone "mixed blood." In the absence of discernible external differences, the Nazis used the religious observance of a person's grandparents to determine their "race."

Though the laws were primarily directed against Jews, other "non-Aryan" people were subject to these laws and to other legislation concerned with "racial hygiene." At least 400 mixed-race children were forcibly sterilized, while others were sent to concentration camps. Mixed marriages remained illegal throughout the Nazi's reign.

Apartheid in South Africa

Apartheid (literally "apartness" in Afrikaans and Dutch) was a system of racial segregation enforced in South Africa from 1948 to 1991. Under apartheid, people were legally classified into a racial group—most people fell under one of four classifications: White, Black, Indian, and Colored—and were geographically and forcibly separated from each other on the basis of this legal classification. The Black majority, in particular, legally became citizens of particular "homelands" that were nominally sovereign nations but operated more akin to United States "Indian Reservations" and Canadian "Aboriginal Reserves." In reality, a majority of Black South Africans had never resided in these "homelands" prior to 1948.

By law, the four racial groups were capitalized. The Colored group included people of mixed Bantu, Khoisan, and European descent (with some Malay ancestry, especially in the Western Cape). The Apartheid bureaucracy devised complex (and often arbitrary) criteria upon the implementation of the Population Registration Act to determine who belonged to the Colored group. Minor officials would administer tests to determine if someone should be categorized Colored or Black, or Colored or White. Different members of the same family found themselves in different racial groups. Further tests determined membership of the various sub-racial groups of the Coloreds.

"Petty apartheid": sign on Durban beach in English, Afrikaans and Zulu

Apartheid was implemented by the law. The following restrictions were not only adopted socially but were strictly enforced by law (the Reservation of Separate Amenities Act specifically allowed the government to provide different levels of amenities for the different races):

  • Non-white people were not allowed to run businesses or professional practices in areas designated as "white South Africa" without a permit. Instead, they had to move to the black homelands and set up businesses and practices there.
  • Transportation and civil facilities were segregated.
  • Black people were excluded from living or working in white areas unless they had a pass. Only black people with "Section 10" rights (those who had migrated to the cities before World War II) were exempt from this provision. White people required passes in "black" areas.

In practice, this prevented non-white people—even those who lived in white South Africa—from having a vote or any influence, restricting their rights to the confines of faraway homelands which they may never have had the opportunity to visit. Education, medical care, and other public services were sometimes identified as "separate but equal," but those available to non-white people were in fact vastly inferior. The government prohibited sex and marriage between the races.

Apartheid pervaded South African culture and law. The media reinforced the perception of non-white South Africans as second-class citizens, and the lack of opportunities for the races to mix in a social setting entrenched social distance between people.

Many of the inequalities created and maintained by apartheid still remain in South Africa. In 2004, the country had one of the most unequal income distribution patterns in the world: Poverty in South Africa is still largely defined by skin color, with black people making up around 90 percent of the country's poor .[6]

Native Americans in the United States

Native Americans in the United States (also known as Indians, American Indians, Amerindians, Amerinds, or Indigenous, Aboriginal or Original peoples or Americans) are the indigenous peoples and their descendants within the territory that is now encompassed by the continental United States and parts of Alaska.

From the fifteenth to the nineteenth century, the European colonization of the Americas decimated the population of the Native Americans through displacement, disease, warfare, and enslavement.

In the nineteenth century, the incessant Westward expansion of the United States incrementally compelled large numbers of Native Americans to resettle further west—sometimes by force and almost always reluctantly. Under President Andrew Jackson, Congress passed the Indian Removal Act of 1830, which authorized the President to conduct treaties to exchange Native American land east of the Mississippi River for lands west of the river. As many as 100,000 Native Americans eventually relocated to the West as a result of this Indian Removal policy. In theory, relocation was supposed to be voluntary (and many Native Americans did remain in the East), but in practice great pressure was put on Native American leaders to sign removal treaties. Arguably the most egregious violation of the stated intention of the removal policy was the Treaty of New Echota, which was signed by a dissident faction of Cherokees but not by the elected leadership. President Martin Van Buren's brutal enforcement of the treaty resulted in the deaths of an estimated 4,000 Cherokees (mostly from disease) on the "Trail of Tears."

Students at the Bismarck Indian School in the early twentieth century

American policy toward Native Americans has been an evolving process. In the late nineteenth century, reformers, in efforts to "civilize" Indians, adapted the practice of educating native children in Indian Boarding Schools. These schools, which were primarily run by Christians, proved traumatic to Native American children, who were forbidden to speak their native languages, taught Christianity instead of their native religions, and in other ways forced to abandon their various Native American identities and adopt European-American culture. There are also many documented cases of sexual, physical, and mental abuses occurring at these schools.[7]

The Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 gave United States citizenship to Native Americans, in part because of an interest by many to see them merged with the American mainstream, and also because of the heroic service of many Native American veterans in World War I.

Separate but equal: African Americans after Reconstruction

After the American Civil War (1861–1865) brought about the end of slavery, Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) became the de facto standard throughout the U.S. Southern states and represented the institionalization of the segregation period. In theory, African Americans and European Americans received the same services (schools, hospitals, water fountains, bathrooms, etc.), but each "race" had a distinct facility. In practice, the services and facilities reserved for African Americans were frequently of lower quality than those reserved for white people; for example, many African-American schools received less public funding per student than nearby white schools. The legitimacy of such laws was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in the Plessy case.

Attorneys for the NAACP employed the phrase "Separate but equal" during the Supreme Court litigation of Brown v. Board of Education (1954). It referred to the phrase "equal but separate" used in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) as a custom of de jure racial segregation enacted into law. The repeal of "separate but equal" laws was a key focus of the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. In Brown v. Board of Education (1954), the Supreme Court outlawed segregated public education facilities for black and white people at the state level; the companion case of Bolling v. Sharpe outlawed such practices at the Federal level in the District of Columbia.

Racism in the twenty-first century

Since the last quarter of the twentieth century, "racism" has become a pejorative term, and identification of a group or person as "racist" is almost always controversial. A number of international treaties have sought to end racism. The United Nations uses a definition of "racial discrimination" laid out in the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and adopted in 1966:

any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, color, descent, or national or ethnic origin which has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other field of public life.[8]

The European Union, following up with a positive course of action following the 1997 "Year against Discrimination," condemns multiple factors for discrimination, not the least of which is race:

Article 21 of the charter prohibits discrimination on any ground such as sex, race, color, ethnic or social origin, genetic features, language, religion or belief, political or any other opinion, membership of a national minority, property, birth, disability, age or sexual orientation and also discrimination on the grounds of nationality.[9]

Thus, as human society moved into the new millennium, racism was recognized as unacceptable, and efforts have been increased to end its practice once and for all.

Notes

  1. Daniel K. Richter. Facing East from Indian Country: A Native History of Early America (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2003, ISBN 0674011171), 208.
  2. Eric R. Wolf, Europe and the People without History (University of California Press, 1982, ISBN 0520048989).
  3. Auguste Comte, Cours de Philosophie Positive (6 volumes), published 1830-1842; translated into English 1853.
  4. Rudyard Kipling 'The White Man's Burden' and US Imperialism GlobalPolicy.org, November, 2003. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
  5. Pascal Blanchard, Sandrine Lemaire and Nicolas Bancel, Human zoos - Racist theme parks for Europe's colonialists Le Monde Diplomatique, August 2000. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
  6. United Nations report highlights growing inequality in South Africa World Socialist Web Site, May 21, 2004. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
  7. Andrea Smith, Soul Wound: The Legacy of Native American Schools Amnesty International Magazine, October 9, 2015. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
  8. International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination United Nations Office of the High Commissioner. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
  9. Article 21 - Non-discrimination EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. Retrieved June 16, 2020.

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  • Barkan, Elazar. The retreat of scientific racism: changing concepts of race in Britain and the United States between the world wars. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1992. ISBN 978-0521458757
  • Bauer, Yehuda. A History Of The Holocaust. New York: F. Watts, 1982. ISBN 0531098621.
  • Dain, Bruce. A hideous monster of the mind: American race theory in the early republic. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2002. ISBN 0674009460
  • Friedländer, Saul. Nazi Germany and the Jews Volume 1 The Years of Persecution, 1933-1939. New York: HarperCollins, 1997. ISBN 0060190426
  • Kipling, Rudyard. Kipling’s Verse: Definitive Edition. New York: Doubleday, 1940.
  • Lévi-Strauss, Claude. Race and History. Franklin Classics, 2018. ISBN 978-0343291396
  • Peukert, Detler and R. Deveson (Translator). Inside Nazi Germany: conformity, opposition and racism in everyday life. London: Penguin Books Ltd, 1989. ISBN 978-0140228458
  • Richter, Daniel K. Facing East from Indian Country: A Native History of Early America, New Ed. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press, 2003. ISBN 0674011171
  • Rocchio, Vincent F. Reel Racism. Confronting Hollywood's Construction of Afro-American Culture. Westview Press, 2000. ISBN 0813367107
  • Taguieff, Pierre-André. La Force du préjugé. Essai sur le racisme et ses doubles. Tel Gallimard, La Découverte, 1987. ISBN 2070719774
  • Wolf, Eric R. Europe and the People without History. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1982. ISBN 0520048989

External links

All links retrieved December 7, 2022.


Credits

New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here:

The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia:

Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed.