What is Racism?
Guided Discussion
101
Medium Trust
Race
20 mins
Participants
Materials & Media Required:
❏ Flipchart, whiteboard, or other surface visible to the group
❏ Sticky notes
❏ Writing utensils
Set Up Required:
❏ Pass out 3 sticky notes per participant Goals & Learning Outcomes:
❏ Participants will be able to define racism ❏ Participants will be able to discuss and identify at least 3 examples of what racism looks like
or how it is enacted
❏ Participants will be able to identify and discuss the difference between internalized,
individual, and systemic racism
Framing:
● While we may talk about the effects of racism, often we are having these discussions
without defining what racism really is.
● We wanted to start by talking about what racism is and exploring the different types of
racism that exist Process Steps & Talking Points:
1. Write the word “racism” up on the board, and ask the group to list off other words that
come to mind when they hear the word racism. Take just a minute to do this and use this to
start your definition portion and to reference back to later.
2. Then, write the word racism on a new sheet or part of the board and ask if anyone is able to
define the word racism. (Refer to the instructor’s sheet at the end of this activity for a
definition).
3. After establishing a broad understanding of the word racism, ask participants to take out
their sticky notes and to write down three instances, actions, and/or examples of racism:
one per sticky note
4. After everyone has written down at least one example of what racism can look like, add
three more phrases to the board (or on three separate sheets of paper—and hang the papers
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
up where participants can see them). These three phrases are: Internalized racism,
individual/interpersonal racism, and institutional racism.
Review briefly the definitions for internalized, individual, and institutional racism.
If time allows, ask participants to bring their completed sticky notes to the front of the room
and to categorize their stickies under one of the three categories. Participants should talk
to each other when if they are stuck or unsure of what category to choose.
If time does not allow, ask participants to reflect for a moment about the categories they
chose for their stickies.
Ask for participants to provide at least one example for each category; ask for one example
for internalized, one for interpersonal, and one for institutional.
Share with participants why understanding and seeing these three aspects of racism is
important to consider when we are thinking about and working through our own
understandings of racism.
Example: When we think of racism, we often think of interpersonal racism: actions that one person
does to another person or exchanges that take place between groups. Yet, in reality, the
way that racism affects our lives is much more complex than that.
We can internalize racism, whether that is an internalized sense of dominance or of
inferiority, and what is even more difficult about this fact is that we may not ever realize
we have done so.
There is also systemic and institutional racism, which happens in such macro ways that no
individual may feel they are doing anything wrong and yet entire systems may be set up for
one group of folks (in this country, White folks) to be advantaged and privileged over others.
It is important to consider these three different ways that racism shows up because if we are
truly working to educate ourselves and to unknot the effects of racism we must address all
three ways that racism manifests. Arguments against the importance of doing racial justice
work are often rebuffs against one type of racism: by saying that you personally did not
enact racism. And while that is an important aspect of what racism is, it is not the ​
only​
thing
that makes up racism. Discussion Questions:
What comes to mind when I say the word racism? What is your definition of racism? What are the different ways that racism manifests in our lives? Why is it important to consider these different ways that racism shows up? Wrap Up:
As we move forward in our work around race and racism, please consider the following questions
when we are talking. Are we including all of the different ways that racism shows up? How does
racism affect your life in these different planes? How does it affect you intrapersonally,
interpersonally, and on a systems level? These are important questions to reflect on and consider
when moving forward. Bring Your Style:
There are many ways to shape this activity. After all participants have written their examples of
what racism looks like, you could ask the whole group to pile their sticky notes together and to
then sort them into the categories as a group rather than individuals. You could also prompt the group to write an example of each category of racism ​
after​
you’ve
introduced the definitions, rather than before. You could break the participants into groups and assign each group a category of racism and
challenge them to come up with as many examples as possible for that category. Challenges & Tips:
This activity can very easily take longer—so pick and choose what elements you want to spend the
most time on, and focus in on those aspects of the activity. Instructor’s Reference Definitions
Racism
Racism is any action or attitude that subordinates an individual or group based on skin colour
or race. It can be enacted internally, individually, or institutionally.
The key distinction is between the two levels of racism, individual and systemic. While we
acknowledge the impact of individual acts of racial discrimination, we believe that it is
critical to do so within a deeper analysis of systemic racial injustice.1
Systemic Racism
● Structural racism
● refers to a system in which public policies, institutional practices, cultural
representations, and other norms work in various, often reinforcing ways to
perpetuate racial group inequity.
● it identifies dimensions of our history and culture that have allowed privileges
associated with “whiteness” and disadvantages associated with “color” to endure and
adapt over time.
● touches and implicates everyone in our society—White people, Black people, Latinos,
Asians, and Native Americans.
● is a system for allocating social privilege.
○ The lower end of the privilege scale, characterized by socioeconomic
disadvantage and political isolation, has historically been associated with
“blackness” or “color.”
○ Meanwhile, the upper end of the scale that gives access to opportunity,
benefits, and power has been associated with “whiteness.”
○ Between the fixed extremes of whiteness and blackness there is a fluid
hierarchy of social and political spaces that are occupied by different groups of
color at various times.2
● Institutional racism
● Occurs within institutions and systems of power.
● It is the unfair policies and discriminatory practices of particular institutions (schools,
workplaces, etc.) that routinely produce racially inequitable outcomes for people of
color and advantages for White people.3
1
2
3
http://act.colorlines.com/acton/attachment/1069/f-0114/1/-/-/-/-/Racial_Discourse_Part_1.PDF
Aspen Institute: Structural Racism and Community Building
​
http://act.colorlines.com/acton/attachment/1069/f-0114/1/-/-/-/-/Racial_Discourse_Part_1.PDF
Individual Racism
● Interpersonal Racism
○ occurs between individuals.
○ These are biases that occur when individuals interact with others and their private
racial beliefs affect their public interactions.
○ Examples include racial slurs, bigotry, hate crimes, and racial violence.
● Internalized Racism
● The ideas, beliefs, actions and behaviors that support and/or reinforce racism.
● These are our personal beliefs and biases about race and racism, influenced by our
culture.
● How it shows up:
○ people of color accepting negative messages about their own abilities and
intrinsic worth 4
○ internalized privilege, beliefs about the superiority or entitlement of white
people.
○ a belief that you or others are more or less intelligent, or beautiful, because of
your race. 4
Jones, 2000
​