Definitions for racism
ˈreɪ sɪz əmracism

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:5.0 / 1 vote

1. racismnoun

   the prejudice that members of one race are intrinsically superior to members of other races

2. racism, racialism, racial discriminationnoun

   discriminatory or abusive behavior towards members of another race

WiktionaryRate this definition:5.0 / 1 vote

1. racismnoun

   The belief that each race has distinct and intrinsic attributes.

2. racismnoun

   The belief that one race is superior to all others.

3. racismnoun

   Prejudice or discrimination based upon race.

4. Etymology: From racisme.

WikipediaRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Racism

   Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against other people because they are of a different race or ethnicity. Modern variants of racism are often based in social perceptions of biological differences between peoples. These views can take the form of social actions, practices or beliefs, or political systems in which different races are ranked as inherently superior or inferior to each other, based on presumed shared inheritable traits, abilities, or qualities. There have been attempts to legitimize racist beliefs through scientific means, such as scientific racism, which have been overwhelmingly shown to be unfounded. In terms of political systems (e.g. apartheid) that support the expression of prejudice or aversion in discriminatory practices or laws, racist ideology may include associated social aspects such as nativism, xenophobia, otherness, segregation, hierarchical ranking, and supremacism. While the concepts of race and ethnicity are considered to be separate in contemporary social science, the two terms have a long history of equivalence in popular usage and older social science literature. "Ethnicity" is often used in a sense close to one traditionally attributed to "race", the division of human groups based on qualities assumed to be essential or innate to the group (e.g. shared ancestry or shared behavior). Racism and racial discrimination are often used to describe discrimination on an ethnic or cultural basis, independent of whether these differences are described as racial. According to the United Nations's Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, there is no distinction between the terms "racial" and "ethnic" discrimination. It further concludes that superiority based on racial differentiation is scientifically false, morally condemnable, socially unjust, and dangerous. The convention also declared that there is no justification for racial discrimination, anywhere, in theory or in practice.Racism is a relatively modern concept, arising in the European age of imperialism, the subsequent growth of capitalism, and especially the Atlantic slave trade, of which it was a major driving force. It was also a major force behind racial segregation in the United States in the 19th and early 20th centuries, and of apartheid in South Africa; 19th and 20th-century racism in Western culture is particularly well documented and constitutes a reference point in studies and discourses about racism. Racism has played a role in genocides such as the Holocaust, the Armenian genocide, the Rwandan genocide, and the Genocide of Serbs in the Independent State of Croatia, as well as colonial projects including the European colonization of the Americas, Africa, Asia, and the population transfer in the Soviet Union including deportations of indigenous minorities. Indigenous peoples have been—and are—often subject to racist attitudes.

ChatGPTRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. racism

   Racism is a belief, ideology, or system in which different races possess distinct characteristics and abilities, and that one race is inherently superior or inferior to others. It often involves prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race or ethnicity, based on the belief of racial superiority.

FreebaseRate this definition:2.2 / 6 votes

1. Racism

   Racism is usually defined as views, practices and actions reflecting the belief that humanity is divided into distinct biological groups called races and that members of a certain race share certain attributes which make that group as a whole less desirable, more desirable, inferior, or superior. The exact definition of racism is controversial both because there is little scholarly agreement about the meaning of the concept "race", and because there is also little agreement about what does and doesn't constitute discrimination. Critics argue that the term is applied differentially, with a focus on such prejudices by whites, and defining mere observations of racial differences as racism. Some definitions would have it that any assumption that a person's behavior would be influenced by their racial categorization is racist, regardless of whether the action is intentionally harmful or pejorative. Other definitions only include consciously malignant forms of discrimination. Among the questions about how to define racism are the question of whether to include forms of discrimination that are unintentional, such as making assumptions about preferences or abilities of others based on racial stereotypes, whether to include symbolic or institutionalized forms of discrimination such as the circulation of ethnic stereotypes through the media, and whether to include the socio-political dynamics of social stratification that sometimes have a racial component. Some definitions of racism also include discriminatory behaviors and beliefs based on cultural, national, ethnic, caste, or religious stereotypes.

Matched Categories

1. • Bias

British National Corpus

1. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'racism' in Nouns Frequency: #2862

How to pronounce racism?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say racism in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of racism in Chaldean Numerology is: 5

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of racism in Pythagorean Numerology is: 9

Examples of racism in a Sentence

1. Cesar Chavez, letter:

   Kindness and compassion toward all living things is a mark of a civilized society. Conversely, cruelty, whether it is directed against human beings or against animals, is not the exclusive province of any one culture or community of people. Racism, economic deprival, dog fighting and cock fighting, bull fighting and rodeos are cut from the same fabric: violence. Only when we have become nonviolent toward all life will we have learned to live well ourselves.

2. R. Buckminster Fuller, Playboy Interview - February 1972:

   Racism, pollution and the rest of it are themselves very close to extinction.

3. Crystal Moten:

   Do you want to lessen the blow or do you want to eradicate racism? I want to eradicate racism, yes I want opportunity for dialogue, but the impact of racism is killing people of color. We don't have time to tend to the emotional wounds of others, not when violence against people of color is the national status quo.

4. Walter Williams:

   History is not going to be kind to liberals. With their mindless programs, they've managed to do to Black Americans what slavery, Reconstruction, and rank racism found impossible destroy their family and work ethic.

5. David Pilgrim:

   I am blessed to travel this country to talk about racism. Yes, its a blessing, but in every place someone says, ‘If you stop talking about race, racism will go away.’ That doesn’t even make stupid sense. The reality is that we talk about race all the time, in corridors, in offices, at ballgames, but we do not often talk about it in places where our ideas are challenged.”

Popularity rank by frequency of use