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.
**CONTEMPORARY 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 HISTORICALLY 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.
_______________________________________________________________
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).
...
{{{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.}}}}