Racism
Richard Henry Pratt spoke the word racism in 1902 during a speech about social association. He stated that linking races and classes was necessary to destroy both racism and classism. This single sentence marks one of the earliest recorded uses of the term in English. Before this moment, scientists and philosophers discussed racial differences without using the specific noun racism. They used words like racialism or race hatred instead. The Oxford English Dictionary notes that racialism appeared earlier but fell out of favor by the mid-20th century. Modern definitions describe racism as a belief system where groups possess different behavioral traits based on inherited attributes. It also functions as prejudice or discrimination directed against people because they belong to a different ethnic background. These views often take the form of political systems that rank different races as inherently superior or inferior. The concept evolved alongside European imperialism and capitalism during the Atlantic slave trade era. Today scholars distinguish between race and ethnicity even though popular usage often treats them as identical terms.
Johann Blumenbach divided humanity into five groups according to skin color in 1775. His taxonomy included Caucasians, Mongols, and other categories based on physical appearance. Christoph Meiners took this further by labeling the white race beautiful and the black race ugly in his book The Outline of History of Mankind. He claimed that beauty and ugliness were main characteristics defining human divisions. Hans Peder Steensby argued in 1907 that all humans today are of mixed origins yet still searched for purest races among Australian Aboriginals. These theories gained traction throughout the 19th century before falling strongly out of favor in the early 20th century. Human genome research now indicates that race is not a meaningful genetic classification of humans. Biologists and anthropologists reject any taxonomy of races in favor of geography or ethnicity instead. UNESCO issued a statement in 1950 signed by twenty-one scholars including Ashley Montagu and Claude Lévi-Strauss. They recommended dropping the term race altogether and speaking only of ethnic groups. This declaration condemned scientific racist theories that had played a role in the Holocaust. Modern genetics confirms that no biological basis exists for dividing humans into superior or inferior stocks.
The Spanish developed a complex caste system based on race during their colonization of the Americas. This system determined social control and a person's importance within colonial society. Bartolomé de Las Casas debated Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda at the Valladolid debate between 1550 and 1551 regarding Native American treatment. Sepúlveda argued Indians practiced cannibalism and should be reduced to slavery while Las Casas defended them as free men. The marriage of Luisa de Abrego and Miguel Rodríguez occurred in 1565 in St. Augustine marking the first known Christian union between a black domestic servant and white conquistador anywhere in continental United States. European powers justified conquest through ideologies like The White Man's Burden published by Rudyard Kipling in 1899. L. Frank Baum wrote an article in 1890 claiming total annihilation of remaining Indians secured frontier settlements best. Thomas Jefferson stated in Notes on State of Virginia published in 1785 that blacks were inferior to whites in endowments of both body and mind. These attitudes fueled genocides including the Herero and Nama genocide of 1904, 1908 and the Armenian genocide of 1915, 1917.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1948 recognized rights without distinction of race or color. Article 21 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union explicitly banned racism along with other forms of social discrimination in 2001. Norway removed the word race from national laws concerning discrimination because its use is considered problematic and unethical. The Norwegian Anti-Discrimination Act bans discrimination based on ethnicity, national origin, descent, and skin color instead. The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination adopted in 1966 defines racial discrimination as any distinction nullifying human rights on equal footing. UNESCO issued a statement in 1950 signed by scholars like Gunnar Myrdal and Julian Huxley condemning scientific racist theories. The United Nations declared there is no justification for racial discrimination anywhere in theory or practice. These legal instruments aim to protect economic rights, social rights including education, and civil liberty for all people regardless of background.
Social psychologist Jennifer L. Eberhardt of Stanford University held that blackness is so associated with crime you are ready to pick out these crime objects. Her research shows how subconscious biases influence visual processing when minds encounter faces of different colors. Joel Kovel coined the term aversive racism to describe subtle racial behaviors where people rationalize their aversion through rules or stereotypes. People behaving in an aversively racial way may profess egalitarian beliefs yet change behavior when dealing with members of another race. Experiments provide empirical support showing aversive racism has serious implications for decision making in employment and legal contexts. Implicit attitudes occur without conscious awareness toward attitude objects or self based on past experiences. These evaluations generally favor or disfavor certain groups despite individuals consciously claiming to reject racism. Subconscious racial biases impact decision-making processes even though they do not fully fit traditional definitions of racism.
Stokely Carmichael coined the phrase institutional racism in the late 1960s defining it as collective failure of organizations to serve people due to color or origin. Maulana Karenga argued racism constituted destruction of culture, language, religion, and human possibility involving morally monstrous outcomes. African-American university student Vivian Malone entered the University of Alabama in 1963 to register for classes after decades of segregation. Thomas Schelling developed models demonstrating how segregation exists through social norms even without strong individual preference. Color photographic film was tuned for white skin while automatic soap dispensers and facial recognition systems failed to detect darker complexions. Racial segregation applies to activities such as eating restaurants drinking from water fountains using bathrooms attending schools going movies renting homes. The legacy limpieza de sangre doctrine persisted into the 19th century in military contexts creating lasting barriers against social mobility. Modern nation-states emerged following French Revolution leading to debates about nationalities that shaped contemporary understandings of race and ethnicity.
Common questions
When did Richard Henry Pratt first use the word racism in English?
Richard Henry Pratt spoke the word racism in 1902 during a speech about social association. This single sentence marks one of the earliest recorded uses of the term in English.
What year did UNESCO issue its statement condemning scientific racist theories?
UNESCO issued a statement in 1950 signed by twenty-one scholars including Ashley Montagu and Claude Lévi-Strauss. They recommended dropping the term race altogether and speaking only of ethnic groups to condemn scientific racist theories that had played a role in the Holocaust.
Who debated Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda at the Valladolid debate between 1550 and 1551 regarding Native American treatment?
Bartolomé de Las Casas debated Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda at the Valladolid debate between 1550 and 1551 regarding Native American treatment. Sepúlveda argued Indians practiced cannibalism and should be reduced to slavery while Las Casas defended them as free men.
In what year was the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the UN General Assembly?
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1948. It recognized rights without distinction of race or color.
When did Stokely Carmichael coin the phrase institutional racism?
Stokely Carmichael coined the phrase institutional racism in the late 1960s defining it as collective failure of organizations to serve people due to color or origin.