Racism
Racism is the assignment of negative value by the dominant race to traits associated with a disfavored race, the subordinate ranking of that race on the social hierarchy and, thus denying that race, by law or practice, the advantages enjoyed by the dominant race and imposing on the disfavored race stigmas resulting in that race being subjected to maltreatment in all systems controlled directly or indirectly by the dominant race. Race is italicized since credible historical and scientific data support a conclusion that there are biologically no races and rather, race was a social construction based on appearance and country of origin imposed by the dominant race to justify the subordination of groups distinguishable for the most part by skin color, features and hair texture. Race, therefore, is a social reality and not a biological reality.
Race
“All human beings belong to a single species and share a common origin.” Declaration on Race and Race Prejudice adopted by the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
Race is a social construction where people with similar physical characteristics (phenotype) are lumped together in categories. Because it is based on phenotype, people who may be children of what is called the black race, for example, may in fact fit the phenotype of people called white. The construction of race was created by one group of people in order to rationalize its domination over other groups.
- Ethnicity
- Ethnicity is generally viewed as shared cultural traits and group history whether or not based on genealogy.
- Racial and ethnic justice
- Racial and ethnic justice is the creation and proactive reinforcement of policies, practices, attitudes and actions that produce fair and non-biased distribution and sharing of power, access, opportunities, treatment, impacts and outcomes for all.
- Structural racism
- Structural racism is the cumulative effect of policies, systems, and processes that may not have been designed with racism in mind, however, due to historic racism and ethnic discrimination result in disadvantaging certain racial groups. For example, discrimination in the criminal justice system resulted in the disproportionate incarceration of black people. Having a criminal record disadvantages someone in terms of job acquisition, both the fact of getting a job as well as obtaining a job that has some status by salary and position. Redlining created and maintained racially homogenous communities and the communities identified as being black or Latino/a were devalued by the real estate industry. This results in black and Latino/a families’ homes being of lower value than similar homes owned by whites and in white communities.
- People of color
- People of color is a phrase identifying groups’ race by the dominant white group as being non-white and subjected to subordination by the dominant group.
- Healing
- Healing requires recognizing the wounds created by racism and ethnic discrimination, examining these wounds deeply, acknowledging the cause, and creating structures to eradicate the causes and the disadvantages resulting from these causes.
- Stakeholder
- A Stakeholder is a person, group, organization, or system which affects, or is affected by, an organization’s actions.
