Racism 101

“Long before the science of race of the nineteenth century, non-western peoples had been the subject of discussion. The sixteenth century debate about the savage played a key part, along with other themes-the comparison of these people with animals, the biblical curse of Ham, the concept of race in the formation of European images of Africa and of blacks. These themes form the part of the ‘hidden text’ of the images, part of the cultural assumptions built into them. They supply the underlying texture and mental horizon of western imagery, echoing far beyond their formative period into the present.” - Pieterse

RACISM FAQ: (Links need to be updated)

Please peruse these for now.

RACE, RACISM, AND RACIAL MICROAGGRESSIONS 

Racism and the Other Isms 

WHAT IS “WHITE PRIVILEGE”?

IS THERE SUCH THING AS “REVERSE RACISM”?

What is meant by the racialization of poverty ?

What do you mean by People of Colour?

Institutional/Structural Racism Within a Context: A Historical Glimpse at the Concept of “Race”

Need to remake:

What is racism? What are different forms of racism?

What can you tell me about the history of racism?

What are important terms and concepts to know?

What is a Microaggression? What are Racial Microagressions? 

Who are People of Colour? Why can’t I use the term “coloured”?

What is colour-blindness?

Is there such thing as “reverse racism?”

What is meant by the racialization of poverty?

How does racism relate to the other “isms”?

What if I have spent years using harmful language?

What should I do if I witness racial violence?

Also see definitions under pages.

RESOURCES:

MORE, ALWAYS MORE:

  1. In Living Color: Commenting About Race
  2. Commenting About Race Is Complicated
  3.  Derailing for Dummies
  4. stuff white people do: play the ethnicity card
  5. Why Is It So Important To Have Productive Conversations On Race? [Racialicious]
  6. Racism 101 [Resist Racism]
  7. White Privilege [PDF]
  8. How to Suppress Discussions Of Racism [Coffee and Ink]
  9. Anti-racism [Racism 101]
  10. Youth Against Racism, Definitions & Terms
  11. Race Tropes
  12. stfuracists.tumblr.com- stfu101
  13. Institutional/Structural Racism Within a Context: A Historical Glimpse at the Concept of “Race”
  14. White Privilege Timeline in the US
  15. Race Timeline:  Race, Science and Social Policy: An interactive overview of historical events organized along five themes of race, from BC to now.


Cultural appropriation: 

For added measure:

 See our feminism tags and our documentary tags. 

Please see: Racism 101.

I’ve reposted this so many times, but one more time…

 

An ever-expanding list of common understandings we share as anti-racists. Please feel free to submit your own entries.

  1. White privilege exists.
  2. Sanctuary is not segregation.
  3. Flipping the actors does not lend clarity to an issue, nor does it mean that you have created equivalent analogies. See entry under Fallacious Flip.
  4. People must own their feelings and expressions. Ventriloquy is not helpful in discussions of racism.
  5. Seeking the empowerment of people of color is not the same as disenfranchising white people.
  6. Racism is more than individual acts of meanness.
  7. Hating white privilege is not the same as hating whitey.
  8. Defensive responses to issues voiced by people of color are invocations of privilege.
  9. A claim to anti-racism cannot be made based on any variation of the “black friend defense” (Mexican boyfriend, Asian wife, children of color, etc.).
  10. Apology means say you’re sorry and then shut up. No rationalization, no long explanation of your intention, no invocation of the black friend defense. And then work on making change.
  11. The anti-racist focus should be on effect rather than intention.
  12. Celebrations of “multiculturalism” do not address racism.
  13. People of color are not responsible for the education of white people.
  14. It’s not all about you.
  15. An experience you have as a white person that you think is similar to an experience related by a person of color is not a valid proof that racism doesn’t exist.
  16. “Anti-racism” does not exist without action.

Racism and the Other Isms

Some people discount the effect of race on the outcomes for people of color. Many would argue that the issues for people of color are more a consequence of socioeconomic status than race. What they fail to recognize is that the overrepresentation of people of color in lower socioeconomic strata is due to institutional racism that has constrained them to life circumstances that kept them in that strata.

Others equate the prejudice, discrimination, and bias based on age, gender, sexual orientation, or physical ability to the negative experiences due to race. Prejudice and discrimination based on these factors do in fact cause much strife in our society. Also, issues of privilege based on these factors must be confronted as seriously as privilege by racial identification. However, the experience of people of color in each of these categories is significantly worse compared with those who are white and in these categories.

Furthermore, the intolerance that was first established on the basis of race provided the template to treat in a discriminatory manner those who do not “fit.” If our society can successfully tackle its treatment of people who are “different” by virtue of the social category of race, it will have changed the manner in which it views, understands, and responds to “differentness” in other forms.

From the INSTITUTIONAL RACISM &  THE SOCIAL WORK PROFESSION: A CALL TO ACTION .