Racism

In theory

Racism refers to how inferiority is attributed to particular ethnic-racial ethnic groups and the use of this inferiority to advocate for, explain and justify the unequal treatments of these groups. As such, racism is about the practices and behaviours that collectively produce a racial structure on social, political and economic levels that shapes the life chances of different ethnic-racial groups. Because the racial structure produces structural advantages for some (the dominant ethnic-racial group) and structural disadvantages for others (the subordinated, minoritized and inferiorized ethnic-racial groups). Racism can take the shape of ‘everyday racism’ and ‘institutional racism’. In both cases racism is normalized and routinized but in the latter racism is part of institutional practices whereas the former is part of everyday life and interactions.

In practice

Recognizing racism can be difficult given that it has become more subtle and ambigious. We can recognize racism as the disadvantaging, marginalizing or excluding of people or groups because of their ethnic-racial background, skin colour, nationality or religion. On a micro level, an example of racism can be the underestimating or questioning of racialized academics’ capabilities because of the assumption that their cultures or ethnic groups may be less developed or intelligent. On a macro level, an example of institutional racism is how the Dutch Tax Administration (“De Belastingdienst”) intentionally used citizens’ migration background/nationality as a marker of potential fraud among those who received child care allowances. Such an institutional practice operates through the racist logic that some groups (with certain nationalities and migration backgrounds) might be more likely to commit fraud than others.