Race, Racialization and Racism

Colonialism, as distinguished from imperialism, is generally defined as the appropriation, occupation, and control of one territory by another.

Critical race theory is a body of radical critique against the implicit acceptance of White supremacy in prevailing legal paradigms and in contemporary law.

Critical theory proceeds from the view of mankind as the creator of history and society; it seeks a society of free actors that transcends the tension between, and abolishes the opposition to, the individual's purposefulness, spontaneity, and rationality and the results of his or her labor.

"Most media provide stereotypic images of groups other than European Americans. There are infrequent examples of positive interaction between members of diverse groups. Media portrayals influence children's racial and ethnic attitudes, knowledge, and perceptions about all racial/ethnic groups, including their own."

As forms of oppression and privilege, race, class, and gender “intersect” in people's individual lives, in the cultures and communities of which they are a part, and in the institutions that give structure to their life chances.

"The concept of racialization refers to the processes by which a group of people is defined by their “race.” Processes of racialization begin by attributing racial meaning to people's identity and, in particular, as they relate to social structures and institutional systems, such as housing, employment, and education. In societies in which “White” people have economic, political, and social power, processes of racialization have emerged from the creation of a hierarchy in social structures and systems based on “race.” The visible effects of processes of racialization are the racial inequalities embedded within social structures and systems."

"Racism generally means believing that a person's behavior is determined by stable inherited characteristics deriving from separate racial stocks; each of these distinctive attributes is then evaluated in relation to ideas of superiority and inferiority. This implies that there is a social construction in which certain groups of people are superior to others. This social construction is the result of social, economic, and political factors that have ascribed power to some groups, while leaving others powerless."

Aversive racists, who are often well educated and liberal, support the principle of racial equality and regard themselves as nonprejudiced but, at the same time, possess unconscious negative feelings and beliefs about particular minority groups.