Diversity

About Racism: Definitions

Racism and ethnic discrimination are complex constructs. Some definitions focus on underlying systems of beliefs about racial or ethnic superiority. Other definitions specify the ways these beliefs are manifest in different contexts.

At the most general level, Contrada has used the term "ethnic discrimination" and defined it as unfair treatment received because of one's ethnicity, where "ethnicity" refers to various groupings of individuals based on race or culture of origin (Contrada et al., 2000; Contrada, Ashmore, Gary, Coups, Egeth, Sewell, Ewell, & Goyal, 2001).

Gee, Ro, Shariff-Marco, and Chae (2009) define racism as a "broad construct that reflects the processes, norms, ideologies, and behaviors that perpetuate racial inequality" (p.130).

Rodney Clark and colleagues (1999) suggested the following definition: "…the beliefs, attitudes, institutional arrangements, and acts that tend to denigrate individuals or groups because of phenotypic characteristics or ethnic group affiliation" (p. 805).

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