racism

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

Jump to: navigation, search

Contents

English

Etymology

From French racisme (1935/36).

Noun

Wikipedia-logo.png
Wikipedia has an article on:

Wikipedia

racism

  1. The belief that each race has distinct and intrinsic attributes.
  2. The belief that one race is superior to all others.
  3. Prejudice or discrimination based upon race.

Usage notes

Broom icon.svg A user suggests that this entry should be cleaned up, giving the reason: “This is an encyclopedic entry, and belongs in Wikipedia”.
Please see the discussion on Requests for cleanup(+) or the talk page for more information and remove this template after the problem has been dealt with.
  • Different people define race differently, so, naturally, different people define racism differently.
  • Racism is generally accepted as wrong in English-speaking societies, and the word racism carries strong negative connotations. Therefore, those opposing a certain practice might characterize it as "racist" in order to try to take advantage of those connotations, and conversely, those defending a certain practice might try to mitigate it by claiming that it is not racist.
  • While racism is, per se, usually tied to race, some speakers will (controversially) use the term in other cases as well:
    • 2002, Tom Carter-Smith, Sex – an Apology for Love, NORDISC Music & Text, ISBN 87-88619-09-5, page 99,
      The reason for this was the general prejudice (read: racism) against gays among “straight” people; the government simply didn't want the public to be appalled by posters and TV adds with “queers”.
  • The term reverse racism has been used to describe racism (in one sense or another) by a group that has traditionally been oppressed, against a traditionally more-empowered group. However, some argue that this distinction does not need to be made, and advocate using simply the term racism; others have argued conversely that the term racism should not be used at all in such cases.
  • For many speakers, the term racism implies conscious belief or behavior, but this distinction is not universally held.

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Crystal Clear app gimp.png This translation table needs to be split into named sub-tables to allow for unambiguous translations.
Please have a go at fixing this. See Wiktionary:How to check translations for more information.

See also