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RACISMS
INDIVIDUAL DISCRIMINATION
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• “Behavior of individual members of one race/ethnic/gender group that is
intended to have a differential and/or harmful effect on the members of
another race/ethnic/gender group.” (Pincus)
• Interpersonal racism occurs between individuals. Once private beliefs come
into interaction with others, the racism is now in the interpersonal realm.
• Examples include public expressions of racial prejudice, hate, bias and
bigotry between individuals.
• Individual or internalized racism lies within individuals. These are private
manifestations of racism that reside inside the individual.
• Examples include prejudice, xenophobia, internalized oppression and
privilege, and beliefs about race influenced by the dominant culture.
• Example: Refusing to rent to certain groups because of prejudice feelings
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PREJUDICE (1)
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• Attitudes (a settled way of thinking or feeling about
someone, typically one that is reflected in a person's
behavior) held by individuals toward a category of
people
•You can be prejudiced and act upon it and engage in
individual discrimination
•Can you engage in discrimination without being
prejudiced?
•Institutional discrimination?
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STEREOTYPES
• Unreliable generalizations
about all members of a
group that don’t recognize
individual differences within
the group
• Creation of false images or
stereotypes that are real in
their consequences
•W. I. Thomas’ “definition
of a situation”
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PREJUDICE (2)
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• According to Bonilla-Silva, this typology (below) an idealist vision that relies
too much on psychology and set of individual ideas
With that perspectives, racists are just depicted as irrational and rigid
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Components
Elements
Racism: beliefs about “races”
Believing that blacks are oversexed
Prejudice: attitudes towards “races”
Fearing that black men as sexually
crazed
Discrimination: actions against
“races”
Lynching a black male
If racism was viewed as an ideology, its examination could be associated with
systematic racial practices rather than with mere individual ideas.
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INTERNALIZED RACISM
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• When
many members of minority groups are
socialized and educated in institutions, which
devalue the presence and contributions of people
of color
• When they see themselves and their communities
primarily through the eyes of the dominant culture
• Result of self-fulfilling prophecy
•People or groups that are ascribed as having
certain characteristics begin to display those traits
• Self-hatred images
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OMI & WINANT’S RACIAL FORMATION (1)
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Bois’ famous quote “the problem of the twentieth century
is the problem of the color line” illustrates how race still
matters in terms of the distribution of resources, power, and
privilege
• Racism is embedded in a hegemonic racial project, in which
white racial privilege is defended
• Race and racism have changed over time but they are NOT
the same
• Du
• Race has NO fixed meanings but is constructed and
transformed socio-historically through competing political
projects
• Race is a concept which signifies and symbolizes social conflicts
and interests by referring to different types of human bodies
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OMI & WINANT’S RACIAL FORMATION (2)
meaning of race is defined and contested throughout
society, in both collective action and personal practice. In the
process, racial categories themselves are formed, transformed,
destroyed and re-formed. We use the term racial formation to
refer to the process by which social, economic and political
forces determine the content and importance of racial
categories, and by which they are in turn shaped by racial
meanings.” (Omi & Winant, 1994)
• “The
• “The
sociohistorical process by which racial categories are
created, inhabited, transformed, and destroyed” (Omi & Winant,
1994)
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Racial formation explains the definition and redefinition of
specific race identities
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OMI & WINANT’S RACIAL FORMATION (3)
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OMI & WINANT’S RACIAL FORMATION (4)
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OMI & WINANT’S RACIAL FORMATION (5)
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2000 & 2010
Census
forms
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OMI & WINANT’S RACIAL FORMATION (6)
racial project can be defined as racist if it creates or
reproduces hierarchical social structures based on fixed
essential racial categories (or does not include some
individual differences within a group)
•A
• “A racial project is simultaneously an interpretation, representation, or
explanation of racial dynamics, and an effort to reorganize and
redistribute resources along particular racial lines”
• For example, slavery was justified by assertions that Africans were an inferior
race
• Asians were restricted from immigrating to the United States because it was
Congress's and the Supreme Court's view that Asians could not assimilate
• Modern essentialist approaches to race are found in the stereotype of a
violent, young African American male and the perception that Asian
Americans will always be foreigners
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OMI & WINANT’S RACIAL FORMATION (7)
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OMI & WINANT’S RACIAL FORMATION (8)
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OMI & WINANT’S RACIAL FORMATION (9)
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• Race
is a social construct which alters over the course of
time due to historical and social pressures
• Race is an organizing principle
• Race isn’t essence, it is an “unstable and ‘decentered’ complex of
social meanings constantly being transformed by political struggle”
• So Omi and Winant’s definition of race throws out ideas that race
is
• 1) a biological fact
• 2 an illusion
• Instead, race is a very real social classification that has both cultural
ramifications as well as enforces a definite social order
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OMI & WINANT’S RACIAL FORMATION (10)
• Racial
state represents the common facilitator of micro
and macro level processes
• Government (laws, court decisions, etc.. determines
trajectory of race relations)
• Racial state controls the subordinate population through
education or lack of education as the police, criminal
(in)justice system
• Control of the population by the state provide cheap
labor supply through immigration policy etc...
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OMI & WINANT’S RACIAL FORMATION (11)
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LAISSEZ-FAIRE RACISM (1)
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• Laissez Faire Racism involves persistent negative stereotyping of African
Americans, a tendency to blame blacks for the black-white gap in
socioeconomic standing.
• Jim Crow Racism was at its zenith when African Americans remained a largely
southern, rural, agricultural workforce; when anti-black bias was formal state
policy (i.e., separate schools and other public accommodations); and when most
white Americans comfortably accepted the idea that blacks were inherently
inferior.
• Laissez Faire Racism is crystallizing in the current period
• as a new American racial belief system at a point when African Americans
are a heavily urbanized, nationally dispersed and occupationally
heterogeneous population
• when state policy is formally race-neutral and committed to anti-
discrimination
• when most white Americans prefer a more cultural, as opposed to inherent
and biological, interpretation of blacks' disadvantaged status.
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LAISSEZ-FAIRE RACISM (2)
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• Sociologist Lawrence Bobo calls laissez-faire racism in reference to the
fact that the institutionalized disadvantages people of color continue to
face—which are both measurable and observable—are now accepted and
even condoned based on the faulty premise that within the framework of
a modern free market, people of all races have an equal shot at economic
success.
• Thus, for the laissez-faire racist, if it is true that people of color are more
likely to be poor than whites, it can only be because they are not lifting
themselves up by their bootstraps.
• The fact is the experiences of systematic discrimination have left an enduring mark
on the way modern institutions dole out privileges and resources, but in more
tangible terms, the machinery of discrimination has meant that wealth accumulated
for whites, and that wealth continues to be passed down to their descendants.
• Even if the market and its institutions truly regarded people of all races equally,
people of different races are not participating in the market with anything close to
the same chest of resources.
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LAISSEZ-FAIRE RACISM (3)
• It is based on modern-symbolic prejudice characterized by four specific beliefs:
• (1) that blacks no longer face much prejudice or discrimination
• (2) that the failure of blacks to progress results from their unwillingness to
work hard enough
• (3) that blacks are demanding too much too fast
• (4) that blacks have gotten more than they deserve.
• Endorsement of these beliefs is taken to reflect an endorsement of symbolic racism
• Symbolic racism became a widespread expression of discontent toward blacks
by many white Americans after the civil rights era of the 1950s and 1960s
• It is thought to have largely replaced previous forms of prejudice, commonly
known as “old fashioned,” “redneck,” or “Jim Crow” racism, which are
characterized by beliefs in the biological inferiority of blacks, support for
segregation of the races, and formal racial discrimination.
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LAISSEZ-FAIRE RACISM (4)
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• Symbolic racism: a set of beliefs about Black people (people of color in general) as an
abstract group (on a nonracial basis but that operate to maintain the racial status quo;
anonymous they—”If they would only...) rather than as an individuals. Can be applied to any
minority social group.
• Characteristics of Modern-Symbolic prejudice:
• Racial prejudice and discrimination no longer exist
• Black-white differences in economic outcomes result from
• Black people’s lack of motivation to work hard enough to get what they want
• Black people are unwilling to work to get what they want, their continuing anger over inequality is unjustified
• Rather than working for the ahead, Black people seek special favors
• Relative to White people, Black people have been getting more than they deserve economically.
• Old-fashioned Racism: based on belief in the biological inferiority of Black people and the
attendant stereotypes
• Low intelligence
• Laziness
• Exclusion from certain jobs and segregated housing and social clubs:
• Legalized, formal discrimination in the form of racially separated schools and denial of voting rights
• Main differences: Old fashioned racism is based on belief in the biological inferiority of Black
people and the attendant stereotypes of low intelligence while Symbolic racism is not link directly
to race, linked indirectly to race through political and social issues.
• Most members of the dominant social group do not21
see symbolic racist beliefs as prejudice
LAISSEZ-FAIRE RACISM (4)
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• Example of old-fashioned racism:
• “Marta believes that political correctness has gone too far and
that everyone knows Blacks should have been kept in their place.
She would prefer her children attend segregated schools and
believes that Blacks simply don’t have the same abilities as
whites.”
• Example of symbolic racism:
•“Bill simply doesn’t believe that Blacks today are discriminated
against. He is sure that Blacks who work hard earn good salary
and that lazy Blacks get the pay they deserve. Bill is sure that the
reason he has not been promoted to supervisors is because his
company has a quota system that favors Blacks and other
minorities over whites.”
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SEGREGATION
• de jure
• Separation or spatial exclusion of minorities sanctioned/
authorized by law
• de facto
• Separation or spatial exclusion of minorities, not by law
but created by external social factors such as class
• This is reinforced by historical housing patterns.
• School segregation is a reflection of school district boundaries
and housing patterns
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Residential Segregation
Index of Dissimilarity
The percentage of blacks that would need to move to a different
(whiter) neighborhood in order to achieve integration with whites.
100
80
74 77
80 77
68 66
87 87 88 85
70
89
79
70 68
66
60
40
20
0
Atlanta
Boston
1970
Detroit
1980
24
1990
2000
Los Angeles
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RACIAL & ECONOMIC SEGREGATION
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Burbank
Poverty rate: 8.9% (2009)
Dissimilarity index: 31.3 (w/b)
Pasadena
Poverty rate: 12.8% (2011)
Dissimilarity index: 60.1 (w/b)
Hawthorne
Poverty rate: 17.2% (2011)
Dissimilarity index: 49.7 (w/b)
Manhattan Beach
Cerritos
Poverty rate: 3.2% (2011)
Dissimilarity index: 28 (w/b)
Poverty rate: 5.5% (2011)
Dissimilarity index: 25.5 (w/o)
Dissimilarity index: 9.8 (w/b)
Norwalk
Poverty rate: 11.1% (2011)
Dissimilarity index: 52.7 (w/o)
Dissimilarity index: 31 (w/b)
INSTITUTIONAL DISCRIMINATION
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• Institutional racism occurs within and between institutions
• Institutional racism is discriminatory treatment, unfair policies and inequitable
opportunities and impacts, based on race, produced and perpetuated by
institutions (schools, mass media, etc.)
• Individuals within institutions take on the power of the institution when they act
in ways, intentionally or not, that advantage and disadvantage people, based on
race.
• discriminatory practices often become an integral part of the social practices
and institutions of a society. The more complex and bureaucratic the
organization, the less people pay attention to the discriminatory practices
embedded in the rules and procedures, largely because it is not an individual’s
responsibility, but a corporate or organizational responsibility; “I am just doing my
job”, “I am just following orders” ; or, “I just enforce the laws, I do not create
them”.
• Example: A police officer, “following training procedure”, treats someone with racial
bias, engages in institutional racism, representing a law enforcement institution
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INSTITUTIONAL DISCRIMINATION
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STRUCTURAL DISCRIMINATION (1)
• The normalization and legitimization of an array of
dynamics – historical, cultural, institutional and
interpersonal – that routinely advantage whites while
producing cumulative and chronic adverse outcomes for
people of color
• It is a system of hierarchy and inequity, primarily
characterized by white supremacy – the preferential
treatment, privilege and power for white people at the
expense of Black, Latino, Asian, Pacific Islander, Native
American, Arab and other racially oppressed people
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SYSTEMATIC/STRUCTURAL
DISCRIMINATION (1)
STRUCTURAL DISCRIMINATION (2)
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• It lies underneath, all around and across society and it
encompasses:
• (1) history, which lies underneath the surface, providing the
foundation for white supremacy in this country
• (2) culture, which exists all around our everyday lives,
providing the normalization and replication of racism
• (3) interconnected institutions and policies, they key
relationships and rules across society providing the legitimacy
and reinforcements to maintain and perpetuate racism.
• Examples include racist history, dominant cultural representations, popular
myths, and compounded and chronic inequities, etc…
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SYSTEMATIC/STRUCTURAL
DISCRIMINATION (2)
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SYSTEMATIC/STRUCTURAL
DISCRIMINATION (3)
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STRUCTURAL DISCRIMINATION (2)
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• Federal
mandatory sentencing for drug offenses
since 1986
• Five-year minimum sentence for individuals convicted
of trafficking 5 grams of crack cocaine or 500 grams of
cocaine powder in 2009
• Ten-year minimum sentence for individuals convicted
of trafficking 50 grams of crack cocaine or 5,000 grams
(5 kgs) of cocaine powder in 2009
• It
was reduced in 2010 to 18:1 ratio in 2010
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STRUCTURAL DISCRIMINATION (3)
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STRUCTURAL DISCRIMINATION (4)
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SYSTEMATIC/STRUCTURAL DISCRIMINATION (5)
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The US Sentencing Commission found in its 1997 report that “nearly 90% of
the offenders convicted in federal court for crack cocaine distribution are AfricanAmerican while the majority of crack cocaine users is white.Thus, sentences
appear to be harsher and more severe for racial minorities than others as a result
of this law.The current penalty structure results in a perception of unfairness and
inconsistency.”
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In 2006, the crack sentencing policies have resulted in more than 80% of crack
cocaine defendants being African American despite the fact that a majority of
crack cocaine users in the U.S. are white or Hispanic.
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For crack cocaine, 2/3 of users in the U.S. are white or Hispanic
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Furthermore, research on drug market patterns demonstrates that drug users
generally purchase drugs from sellers of the same racial or ethnic background
Despite these facts, people of color are disproportionately subject to the
penalties for both types of cocaine
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