Racism is often defined as disliking or mistreating others because of their race, but that definition has come under criticism. Racism is now seen as a system of advantage based on race, fueled by everyone, whether they mean to or not, and whether they identify as racist or not.
In an essay published in American Psychologistopens in new window, Steven O. Roberts and Michael T. Rizzo asserted that present-day Americans have inherited a racist system and undeniably inherited some profoundly racist beliefs. They detailed seven factors that continue to affect American racism and suggested ways to reverse this process.
Categories. People see races, not individuals. Early on, children start categorizing according to race; racial biases emerge in children as young as 3 years old.
Factions. People treat their own race like a team. Children feel that their own group requires their loyalty, trust, and cooperation.
Segregation. People separate themselves on the basis of race. Most Americans have more contact with White people than with people of color, which contributes to people often seeing persons of color as homogenous stereotypes.
Hierarchy. White Americans are granted a status above all others. As one example, even God is often portrayed as White, which leads people to perceive White people as God-like.
Power. White Americans have the power to set norms and structure society. This extends to politicians, educators, and even parents. White parents rarely talk with their children about race and racism, which gives White children the illusion of postracialism.
Media. White Americans are portrayed as superior to Americans of color. Over the past 20 years, the proportion of low-status Black TV characters has tripled.
Passivism. People ignore and deny that they do any of this, thus allowing the system to persist.
Put simply, Roberts and Rizzo argue that racism is as American as apple pie. What should be done about it? The authors suggest that Americans should stop asking whether they are racist and start asking whether they are antiracist.
Beverly Tatum, a world-famous child psychologist, has compared racism to a moving walkway in an airport. To be actively racist is to know where the walkway is headed and to choose to move along with it. To be passively racist is to stand idly by as the walkway moves in the same direction as those who are actively racist—a way that maintains and reinforces racial hierarchy. To be antiracist, she argued, is to turn around and to actively move in the opposite direction.
Roberts and Rizzo distilled the concept of antiracism, recently made popular by historian Ibram X. Kendi, into two further components: reactive and proactive antiracism.
Reactive antiracism challenges racism whenever it appears. Examples include protesting police brutality, calling out racist systems and beliefs, voting to remove racist policies and policymakers, and enacting legislation that corrects systemic inequalities and injustice.
Proactive antiracism challenges racism before it appears. Examples include creating and sustaining environments that prevent individuals from acting in racist ways and enacting legislation that impedes the introduction of new racist policies. Proactive antiracism is future-oriented.
The authors believe that one of the more promising long-term avenues is to inspire young children toward antiracist action to secure a more antiracist future.
Note: This article is in the Core of Psychology topic area. View more articles in the Core of Psychology topic area.