African American literary tradition called "the literature of white estrangement", part of a multi-

pronged effort to challenge and dismantle white supremacy in the US.[45]

Popular usage
According to dictionaries, the word is commonly used to describe prejudice and discrimination based
on race.[46][47]
Racism can also be said to describe a condition in society in which a dominant racial group benefits
from the oppression of others, whether that group wants such benefits or not. [48] Foucauldian scholar
Ladelle McWhorter, in her 2009 book, Racism and Sexual Oppression in Anglo-America: A
Genealogy, posits modern racism similarly, focusing on the notion of a dominant group, usually
whites, vying for racial purity and progress, rather than an overt or obvious ideology focused on the
oppression of nonwhites.[49]
In popular usage, as in some academic usage, little distinction is made between "racism" and
"ethnocentrism". Often, the two are listed together as "racial and ethnic" in describing some action or
outcome that is associated with prejudice within a majority or dominant group in society.
Furthermore, the meaning of the term racism is often conflated with the terms prejudice, bigotry, and
discrimination. Racism is a complex concept that can involve each of those; but it cannot be equated
with, nor is it synonymous, with these other terms.[citation needed]
The term is often used in relation to what is seen as prejudice within a minority or subjugated group,
as in the concept of reverse racism. "Reverse racism" is a concept often used to describe acts of
discrimination or hostility against members of a dominant racial or ethnic group while favoring
members of minority groups.[50][51] This concept has been used especially in the United States in
debates over color-conscious policies (such as affirmative action) intended to remedy racial
inequalities.[52] Those[who?] who campaign for the interests of ethnic minorities commonly reject the
concept of reverse racism.[53] Scholars also commonly define racism not only in terms of individual
prejudice, but also in terms of a power structure that protects the interests of the dominant culture
and actively discriminates against ethnic minorities.[50][51] From this perspective, while members of
ethnic minorities may be prejudiced against members of the dominant culture, they lack the political
and economic power to actively oppress them, and they are therefore not practicing "racism". [1][50][54]

Aspects
The ideology underlying racism can manifest in many aspects of social life. Such aspects are
described in this section, although the list is not exhaustive.

Aversive racism
Main article: Aversive racism
Aversive racism is a form of implicit racism, in which a person's unconscious negative evaluations of
racial or ethnic minorities are realized by a persistent avoidance of interaction with other racial and
ethnic groups. As opposed to traditional, overt racism, which is characterized by overt hatred for and
explicit discrimination against racial/ethnic minorities, aversive racism is characterized by more
complex, ambivalent expressions and attitudes.[55] Aversive racism is similar in implications to the
concept of symbolic or modern racism (described below), which is also a form of implicit,
unconscious, or covert attitude which results in unconscious forms of discrimination.
The term was coined by Joel Kovel to describe the subtle racial behaviors of any ethnic or racial
group who rationalize their aversion to a particular group by appeal to rules or stereotypes. [55] People
who behave in an aversively racial way may profess egalitarian beliefs, and will often deny their
racially motivated behavior; nevertheless they change their behavior when dealing with a member of
another race or ethnic group than the one they belong to. The motivation for the change is thought to
be implicit or subconscious. Experiments have provided empirical support for the existence of
aversive racism. Aversive racism has been shown to have potentially serious implications for
decision making in employment, in legal decisions and in helping behavior. [56][57]

Color blindness
Main article: Color blindness (race)
In relation to racism, color blindness is the disregard of racial characteristics in social interaction, for
example in the rejection of affirmative action, as a way to address the results of past patterns of
discrimination. Critics of this attitude argue that by refusing to attend to racial disparities, racial color
blindness in fact unconsciously perpetuates the patterns that produce racial inequality. [58]
Eduardo Bonilla-Silva argues that color blind racism arises from an "abstract liberalism, biologization
of culture, naturalization of racial matters, and minimization of racism". [59] Color blind practices are
"subtle, institutional, and apparently nonracial"[60] because race is explicitly ignored in decision-
making. If race is disregarded in predominantly white populations, for example, whiteness becomes
the normative standard, whereas people of color are othered, and the racism these individuals
experience may be minimized or erased. [61][62] At an individual level, people with "color blind prejudice"
reject racist ideology, but also reject systemic policies intended to fix institutional racism.[62]

Cultural