SUMMARY

(1) RACISM OPERATES IN MANY FORMS, AND AT DIFFERENT LEVELS.

(2) RACISM CAN BE COVERT AS WELL AS OVERT.

(3) RACISM IS SUPPORTED BY SYSTEMS OF IDEAS AS WELL AS PRACTICES.

(4) RACISM SERVES TO CREATE, SUPPORT AND REINFORCE DIFFERENTIAL POWER AND STATUS.

**SOCIOLOGY RECOGNIZES THAT A KEY COMPONENT OF RACISM IS POWER.

COMPLEXITIES AND NUANCES OF RACISM

RACISM =’S PREJUDICE + DISCRIMINATION + POWER [TO CONTROL, EXCLUDE AND/OR EXPLOIT]

SOCIOLOGISTS HAVE ARGUED THAT RACISM EXISTS IN MANY FORMS AND LEVELS OF SOCIETY == IN FACT, IT IS SO COMPLEX AND HAS SO MANY NUANCES IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY THAT IT IS [QUITE FRANKLY] IMPOSSIBLE TO IDENTIFY CORRECTLY OR PRECISELY ON EACH AND EVERY OCCASION.

RACISM OCCURS IN THE INTERACTIONS BETWEEN THE [DOMINANT] MAJORITY AND [SUBDOMINANT] MINORITY GROUPS == AND SOME OF THESE INTERACTIONS ARE “INNOCUOUS” [I.E., HARMLESS] AND SOME ARE “ONLY SEEMINGLY INNOCUOUS” [I.E., HARMLESS ON THE SURFACE; BUT HARMFUL AT DEEP OR MORE SUBSTANTIVE LEVELS]

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN [FOR OUR LIVES]?

IN OUR CONCERN FOR THE HARMFUL EFFECTS OR CONSEQUENCES OF ASYMMETRICAL GROUP INTERACTION IT IS CRUCIAL TO KEEP IN MIND THE POWER RELATIONS AMONG THOSE WHO ARE DOING THE TALKING ====è

ALL THAT WE CAN DO IN VIGILANCE IS TO CONTINUALLY ASK:

DOES A EVENT OR SITUATION THREATEN TO UPSET THE BALANCE OF POWER?

IS THE DOMINANT RESPONSE TO SUBDOMINANT INTERACTION (SPEECH/CONDUCT) BASED ON A THREAT TO STATUS QUO BALANCE OF POWER? AND IS THE ACTION PROVOKED AN ATTEMPT TO MAINTAIN THE STATUS QUO SOCIAL ORDER?}}}}

FLERAS (PP. 6 “SOCIAL PROBLEMS”) ====> MODERN RACISM SHOULD BE INTERPRETED AS “A SYSTEM OF POWER RELATIONS IN DEFENCE OF THE STATUS QUO, WITH A COMPLEX ARRAY OF PRACTICES AND DISCOURSES THAT ARE HISTOICALLY DEFINED, EMBEDDED WITHIN INSTITUTIONAL STRUCTURES, WOVEN INTO THE IDEOLOGICAL FABRIC OF SOCIETY, AND ACTED OUT THROUGH DAILY ACTIONS.”

DEFINITIONS OF RACISM

RACISM IS MULTIDIMENTIONAL AND USUALLY SORTS ITSELF OUT IN SEVERAL [INTERRELATED] CATEGOIES OF DEFINITIONS: RACISM AS BIOLOGY, AS IDEOLOGY, AS CULTURE, AND AS POWER ====>

RACISM AS BIOLOGY (“RACISM AS RACE”) =====> [1] THE BELIEF THAT PEOPLE'S BEHAVIOR IS DETERMINED BY GENES OR BIOLOGY {EX: BLACKS AS NATURALLY-BORN ATHLETS, JAPANESS AS NATURALLY-GIFTED SCIENTISTS; ARABS AS FANATICS, ETC} --- [2] THE USE OF RACE AS A BASIS FOR ENTITLEMENT OR EVALUATION OF OTHERS {EX: TO EXCLUDE OTHERS BECAUSE OF SKIN COLOUR IS RACIST; TO INCLUDE OTHERS ON SIMILAR GROUNDS IS NO LESS RACIST --- [3] RACISM AS BIOLOGY REFERS TO THE PROCESS OF ATTACHING AN EVALUATIVE AND MORAL QUALITY TO PERCEIVED BIOLOGICALLY DIFFERENCES.

RACISM AS IDEOLOGY ======> [1] TRANSFORMS RACE-BASED DIFFERENCES INTO A HIERARCHY THAT JUSTIFIES THE DOMINANCE OF ONE GROUP OVER ANOTHER --- [2] A RELATIVELY COHESIVE SET OF BELIEFS (“IDEOLOGY”) AND PRACTICES IS IMPOSED THAT LABELS, CLASSIFIES, EVALUATES, AND RANKS MEMBERS OF A GROUP ALONG A HIERARCHY BY VIRTUE OF THEIR INCLUSION IN A PREDEFINED CATEGORY --- [3] UNEQUAL TREATMENT OF OTHERS IS JUSTIFIED ON THE GROUND OF (“IMPUTED”) INNATE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN RACES.

RACISM AS CULTURE (“RACISM WITHOUT RACE”)=======> IN RECENT YEARS ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT BIOLOGICAL INFERIORITY HAVE BEEN CRITIQUED AND SHIFTED TO ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT CULTURAL INFERIORITY --- [1] MINORITIES ARE DENIED OR EXCLUDED BY RACIALIZING CULTURAL DIFFERENCES AS A BASIS OF DENIAL OR DISLIKE {EX: CITIZENSHIP, PATRIOTISM, AND HERITAGE} --- [2] PEOPLE OF ONE CULTURE ASSUME THEIR WAY OF DOING THINGS IS NORMAL AND NECESSARY, TOGETHER WITH THE POWER TO IMPOSE THESE BELIEFS AND PRACTICES ON OTHERS --- [3] RACIST DISCOURSES ARE AIMED AT CRITICIZING THE CULTURAL “OTHER” WHEN DIFFERENCES ARE SEEN AS BEYOND THE PALE OF INTEGRATION {EX: MIGRANTS AS SOURCE SOCIETY'S SOCIAL ILLS}

RACISM AS POWER (RACISM AS “RACIALIZATION”) ========> [1] RACISM AS A NETWORK OF POWER RELATIONS {SITUTATED WITHIN SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS AND THE INSTITUTIONAL STRUCTURES OF SOCIETY THAT UNINTENTIONALLY ADVANTAGE SOME, DISADVANTAGE OTHERS} --- [2] SOME GROUPS HAVE THE POWER TO ATTACH SOCIAL SIGNIFICANCE TO, DRAW BOUNDARIES AROUND, AND TAKE ADVANTAGE OF OTHERS BECAUSE OF PERCEIVED INFERIORITY {EX: RACIALIZATION OF BLACK CRIME} --- [3] RACISM AS POWER ENTAILS THE CAPACITY FOR SOME TO ESTABLISH AGENDAS REGARDING WHAT IS NORMAL, NECESSARY, DESIRABLE, OR ACCEPTABLE, THUS REINFORCING THE SUPERIORITY OF ONE GROUP OVER ANOTHER {EX: “THE HEGEMONIC ORDER OF WHITENESS” IS ISTITUTIONALIZED WITHIN THE STRUCTURES, VALUES, AND INSTITUTIONS OF SOCIETY.

FORMS OF RACISM

RACISM - IS THE DENIAL OF EQUAL TREATMENT OR ACCESS TO VALUED RESOURCES ON THE BASIS OF RACE.

MOST PEOPLE TEND TO THINK OF RACISM ONLY IN TERMS OF AN "OVERT ACT" OF INTOLERANCE AGAINST PEOPLE OR PROPERTY, LIKE A "HATE CRIME" -- EX: ANTI-SEMITIC OR ANTI-BLACK BEHAVIOR.

BUT, SOCIOLOGISTS HAVE FOUND THAT RACISM OPERATES IN MANY FORMS, AND AT COVERT AND OVERT LEVELS:

(A) EXPRESSIONS CAN BE WILFUL, DELIBERATE, CONSCIOUS, OR THEY CAN BE INDIRECT, UNINTENTIONAL, AND UNCONSCIOUS.

(B) THESE EXPRESSIONS ARE REFLECTED IN INDIVIDUAL ATTITUDES AND BELIEF SYSTEMS AND IN INSTITUTIONAL AND SOCIETAL POLICIES AND REGULATIONS.

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SOCIOLOGIST SPEAK OF THESE DIFFERENT FORMS OF RACISM AS:

(1) INDIVIDUAL RACISM: IS A FORM OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION THAT STEMS FROM CONSCIOUS, PERSONAL PREJUDICE. (EX: SLURS, DEROGATORY

(2) EVERYDAY RACISM -- INVOLVES THE MANY AND SOMETIMES SMALL WAYS IN WHICH RACISM IS EXPERIENCED BY PEOPLES OF COLOUR IN THEIR INTERACTIONS WITH THE DOMINANT WHITE GROUP. (EX: GLANCES, GESTURES, FORMS OF SPEECH AND PHYSICAL MOVEMENTS).

(3) CULTURAL RACISM -- MEANING BASICALLY THAT WE CAN CONCEIVE OF DISCRIMINATION ON THE BASIS OF ONE'S CULTURAL IDEAS, NORMS, VALUES AND MORAES.

(4) SYSTEMIC RACISM:

(A) INSTITUTIONAL -- IS MADE UP OF THE RULES, PROCEDURES,AND PRACTICES THAT DELIBERATELY PREVENT MINORITIES FORM HAVING FULL AND EQUAL INVOLVEMENT IN SOCIETY.

(B) STRUCTURAL -- INEQUALITIES ROOTED IN THE SYSTEM-WIDE OPERATION OF A SOCIETY THAT EXCLUDE SUBSTANTIAL NUMBERS OF MEMBERS OF PARTICULAR GROUPS FROM SIGNIFICANT PARTICIPATION IN MAJOR SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS.

IMPORTANT SOCIOLOGICAL CAVEAT: SINCE THE DOMINANT WHITE SOCIETY IN CANADA TEND TO SEE RACISM AS AN INDIVIDUAL PHENOMENON, STEMMING FROM PERSONAL PREJUDICE, AND EXPRESSED ACTS OF INTOLERANCE =====> THERE IS AN ASSUMPTION THAT RACISM IS THE RESULT OF IGNORANCE OR MALEVOLENCE ON THE PART OF INDIVIDUALS, AND THAT EDUCATION IS ALL THAT IS REQUIRED FOR AMIELIORATION ======> MANY SOCIOLOGISTS SUGGEST THAT THE ANALYSIS OF RACISM THAT IS INHERENT IN THESE EFFORTS AND PRACTICES {EG. FOCUS ON MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION AND INCREASING INTERCULTURAL CONTACTS} ARE DOOMED TO BE OF LIMITED VALUE AND SUCCESS, AND CONTRIBUTES TO FURTHER “MYSTIFICATION” OF SYSTEMIC RACISM =======> MOREOVER, IT IS NOTHING MORE THAN THE ATTEMPT TO “GIVE THE APPEARANCE OF CHANGE WITHOUT CHANGING THE STATUS QUO” (BOLARIA AND LI 1985:29).

IMMIGRATION PROJECT -- ON RACISM

"OLD FASHION RACISM" -- OVERT, CONSCIOUS AND DELIBERATE ACTS OF INTOLERANCE THAT HARMFULLY IMPACT MEMBERS OF A SUBORDINATE GROUP, PERCEIVED TO BE CULTURALLY AND BIOLOGICALLY INFERIOR.

EX: CANADA'S EARLY IMMIGRATION POLICIES WERE DESCRIBED AS EXCLUSIONARY POLICIES DIRECTED AT ASIAN POPULATIONS INCLUDING CHINESE, JAPANESE, AND EAST INDIANS AS WELL AS JEWS -- WHITE ETHNICS WERE THE PREFERRED SETTLERS.

CHANGES TO THE IMMIGRATION ACT IN 1962 INVOLVING IMPLEMENTATION OF A POINTS SYSTEM OPENED THE DOOR TO IMMIGRATION ON A NON-RACIAL BASIS.

EX: "THE CHINESE EXCLUSION ACT" WAS INSTITUTED IN 1885 (AFTER THOUSANDS OF CHINESE LABOURER WERE BROUGHT TO BUILD THE TRANS-ATLANTIC RAILROAD (UNDER THE ACT THE THREAT OF BEING OVERRUN BY "THE YELLOW PERIL" PROMPTED A HEAD TAX OF UP TO $500. IN 1923, THE ACT WAS REVISED TO FORBID CHINESE IMMIGRATION ENTIRELY, AND IT WAS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1947).

"NEW RACISM" -- SOPHISTICATED AND DISGUISED (HOSTILITY TOWARDS RACIAL MINORITIES THAT GOES UNDETECTED) RESPONSE TO THE GROWING PRESENCE OF INCREASINGLY ASSERTIVE RACIAL MINORITIES WHOSE ACTIVITIES AND DEMANDS ARE CRITICIZED AS A THREAT TO THE NATIONAL IDENTITY AND SOCIAL HARMONY.

EX: CHINESE BOAT PEOPLE IN B.C.

QUES: IS THERE A DETECTABLE NEW RACISM IN IMMIGRATION? IS THERE SUPPRESSED RACIAL HOSTILITY?

SURELY CANADA HAS THE RIGHT TO PROTECT ITS BORDERS AGAINST ILLEGAL MIGRANTS? PROTECT POPULATION FROM COMMUNICABLE DISEASE?

WHAT IS THE KEY TO UNDERSTANDING WHERE PROTECTION STARTS AND ENDS, AND WHERE RACISM BEGINS?

HOW DO OUTSIDERS THREATEN THE PUBLIC?

EX: "THE INDIAN ACT" PROVIDES ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF OLD-FASHIONED (AND DE JURE) DISCRIMINATION. ACCORDING TO THE ACT, STATUS INDIAN WOMEN LOST THEIR "STATUS RIGHTS" IF THEY MARRIED SOMEONE WHO WAS NOT A STATUS INDIAN, WHILE STATUS INDIAN MEN DID NOT.

AN AMENDMENT TO THE INDIAN ACT IN 1985 ENDED THE LEGALIZED SEXUAL AND RACIAL DISCRIMINATION (UNDER SECTION 15 OF THE CHARTER OF RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS PROHIBITING DISCRIMINATION ON THE BASIS OF RACE, ETHNICITY OR ORIGIN).

OUTLINE OF THE MANIFESTATIONS OF RACISM IDENTIFIED IN MODERN SOCIAL LIFE

"OLD FASHION RACISM" -- OVERT, CONSCIOUS AND DELIBERATE ACTS OF INTOLERANCE THAT HARMFULLY IMPACT MEMBERS OF A SUBORDINATE GROUP, PERCEIVED TO BE CULTURALLY AND BIOLOGICALLY INFERIOR.

"OVERT" OR AVERSIVE [HATE] RACISM (SOME TIMES REFERRED TO AS "REDNECK" RACISM. IT INVOLVES BLATANT ACTS OF INTOLERANCE -- RACIAL SLURS, CROSS-BURNINGS);

"NEW RACISM" -- SOPHISTICATED AND DISGUISED (HOSTILITY TOWARDS RACIAL MINORITIES THAT GOES UNDETECTED) RESPONSE TO THE GROWING PRESENCE OF INCREASINGLY ASSERTIVE RACIAL MINORITIES WHOSE ACTIVITIES AND DEMANDS ARE CRITICIZED AS A THREAT TO THE NATIONAL IDENTITY AND SOCIAL HARMONY.

"COVERT" RACISM" (SUBTLE, COMPLEX SOPHISTICATED RESPONSES IN SOCIETY IMPACTING STRUCTURES AT THE INSTITUTIONAL LEVEL);

"POLITE" OR "FRIENDLY" RACISM (A CONTRIVED ATTEMPT TO DISGUISE A DISLIKE OF OTHERS THROUGH BEHAVIOR THAT OUTWARDLY IS NO PREJUDICIAL IN APPEARANCE (EX: OFTEN MANIFEST ITSELF IN CODED OR EUPHEMISTIC LANGUAGE --"THOSE PEOPLE" -- MASKS INNER FEELINGS);

"LIBERAL" RACISM (IS DISTINGUISHED BY A "TOLERANCE DICHOTOMY" IN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE LIFE -- E.G., SUPPORT FOR LIBERAL CAUSES, BUT YOU CAN'T MARRY MY DAUGHTER; MARCH FOR CIVIL RIGHTS BUT RESISTS VISIBLE MINORITIES MOVING IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD);

INFERENTIAL RACISM (REPRESENTATIONS OF EVENTS AND SITUATIONS RELATED TO RACE THAT HAVE RACIST PREMISES AND PROPOSITIONS INSCRIBED IN THEM, AND FORMULATED AS A SET OF UNQUESTIONED ASSUMPTIONS -- E.G. SRI LANKAN STUDY);

SUBLIMINAL [OR NON-RACIST] RACISM (LOCATED AMONG INDIVIDUALS IN DOMINANT CULTURE WHO ABHOR OPENLY DISCRIMINATORY TREATEMENT OF MINORITIES, BUT OFTEN HAVE "LOFTY" OPPOSITION TO PROGRESSIVE MINORITY POLICIES AND PROGRAMS [BASED ON FIXED, INFLEXIBLE, "UNQUESTIONABLE" MAINSTREAM VALUES]);

DYSCONSCIOUS RACISM (IS A FORM OF RACISM THAT TACITLY ACCEPTS DOMINANT WHITE NORMS AND PRIVILEGES. IT IS NOT THE ABSENCE OF CONSCIOUSNESS [THAT IS, UNCONSCIOUSNESS] BUT AN IMPAIRED CONSCIOUSNESS OR DISTORTED WAY OF THINKING ABOUT RACE AS COMPARED TO, FOR EXAMPLE, CRITICAL CONSCIOUSNESS – EX: JOB SEARCH SEARCH COMMITTEES THAT, WITHOUT INTENDING TO, LOOK FOR “AFRO-SAXONS” OR “HISPANIC-SAXONS.”);

DEMOCRATIC RACISM (CONSISTS OF A COMMITMENT TO A DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY AND EGALITARIAN VALUES OF FAIRNESS, JUSTICE, AND EQUALITY -- CO-EXISTING WITH NEGATIVE FEELINGS ABOUT PEOPLE OF COLOUR;

REVERSE RACISM (REFERS TO DISCRIMINATION AGAINST MEMBERS OF THE DOMINATE GROUP -- MANIFESTED IN "DOUBLE STANDARDS" THAT ARE THOUGHT TO FAVOUR MINORITIES).

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{{{SOCIOLOGICAL RULE: IS THE DOMINANT RESPONSE TO SUBDOMINANT INTERACTION BASED ON A THREAT TO STATUS QUO BALANCE OF POWER AND CHALLENGE TO THE STATUS QUO.}}}}