Racism: Origin and Theory

Abstract

This is a review of the theoretical development of the concept of racism. From its 1960s activist roots, the concept lost its theoretical content in its 1970s popularization. Now racism describes virtually anything having to do with racial conflict. The concept is reintroduced and used to analyze the post-1970s race relations propositions. The declining significance of race, symbolic racism, color-blind racism, and unconscious racism missed the structural regressions brought on by the "southern strategy" to mask indirect and covert ways to continue racial oppression. As a result, the new Jim Crow was missed in race relations since the 1980s. A reconsideration of the theory of racism calls for a strategic approach to race relations research. Research should focus on the etiology of racism among European Americans and the central role played by White elites and the media in maintaining historic cultural and institutional arrangements.

Plasticity of Contemporary Racism: Functionalist Orientation Anomalies and Emergence of Social Conflict Theory

“…Racism understood as a natural consequence of the system's contradictions can only be understood in a plastic way. Ideas about social conflict as a cultural constant have been widely endorsed today (Bowser, 2017;Pi & Zhang, 2017;Rinker & Lawer, 2018). One of the consequences of permanent social conflict is the explosion of violent revolutions between opposing groups, the rejection of constant cooperation, and social inequality reproduction.…”

“A Dream Deferred”: How Discrimination Impacts the American Dream Achievement for African Americans

“…As cultural racism shapes social norms, beliefs, and attitudes, institutional discrimination becomes implemented to reflect these societal values (Bowser, 2017). There is also a direct relationship between the larger scale of structural barriers and the interpersonal scale of individual racism.…”

“…Individual racist beliefs are often a result of being taught those beliefs through cultural racism and are reinforced by institutional racism. Individual racist beliefs reduce when opportunities to challenge the assumptions are available, such as through positive interactions or education, which shows how they are interrelated (Bowser, 2017). Racist attitudes are also maintained out of fears of loss of power or advantages provided by the majority race through institutional racism (Henkel, Dovidio, & Gaertner, 2006) and thus may remain after institutional discrimination has been challenged.…”

Is race still relevant? Student perceptions and experiences of racism in higher education

“…According to the OHCHR and UNESCO (2005), there are generally three types of racism: (1) structural racism, which refers to the historical account of how institutional policies and regulations have perpetuated societal perforation along racial lines, which in turn led to entire systems working adversely for ethnic minorities, particularly within culturally predetermined conditions; (2) institutional racism, which insinuates intra-institutional rules and regulations favouring the majority populace over minority ethnic groups, which are sometimes referred to as 'unintentional institutional biases'; and (3) individual/interpersonal racism, which dictates the observed internalised feeling of privilege and oppression and sequentially affects interpersonal interactions based on preconceived notions of how a particular person or group ought to behave. These are normally based on generalisations about particular groups and are typically implicit, subtle or unconscious (Bowser, 2017).…”