Abstract
The word “racism” was not always in use along with beliefs in the existence of human races. During the age of racial essentialism and explicit white supremacy based on posits of racial hierarchy, what is called “racism” today was built into the idea of race. As ideas that human races were morally equal gained credibility, names came into use for those who retained inegalitarian beliefs and the practices associated with those beliefs. According to the Oxford English Dictionary the first recorded use of the word “racism” in English derives from Richard Henry Pratt’s (1840–1924) criticism of government policy that segregated Native Americans:
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Discussion Questions
Discussion Questions
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1.
What are the advantages to free speech when racist hate speech is permitted? What are some arguments against it?
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2.
Can people who belong to groups that have experienced racism themselves be racist? Explain what is meant by “racism” if they can or cannot be racists.
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3.
How is postjudice different from prejudice?
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4.
Does the prosecution of hate crimes in the United States accomplish the deterrence of racism? Why or why not?
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5.
How is the US prison system a system of institutional racism?
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6.
What are some claims or arguments that the US K-12 educational system is, or is not, a system of institutional racism? What is your assessment?
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7.
Give some examples of micro-aggression from your own experience.
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8.
Does the idea of white privilege trivialize the violation of rights of nonwhites?
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9.
Is epistemic injustice real injustice in your view?
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10.
Compare the wrongs of individual racism with institutional racism, in general or theoretical terms.
Glossary
- Colorblindness
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Position that a person or group is unaware of racial difference, which can have racist effects in its failure of recognition of racial difference.
- Discrimination
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Harmful action against others based on their race.
- Hearts-and-minds racism (HMR)
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Racism of individuals.
- Micro-aggression
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Speech or behavior experienced by members of racial or ethnic minority groups as indirect or covert prejudice or discrimination.
- Postjudice
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An attitude of judging people based on their race, because members of that same race perpetrated racist harms in the past.
- Prejudice
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Negative beliefs about others based on their race.
- Racism
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Prejudice and discrimination practiced by individuals or embedded in institutional practices.
- White privilege
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Benefits to whites of living in a society with a history and present practice of racism against nonwhites.
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Zack, N. (2023). Racism and Neo-racisms. In: Philosophy of Race. Palgrave Philosophy Today. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-27374-2_7
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