Defining Racism

Recently, on a local talk radio show, a guest mentioned that she was walking down a street in Washington, DC, and heard footsteps behind her. Before she could even think about how to react, the following raced through her mind; “It’s a black man and he’s going to rob me.”
Then she thought, “No, it’s a white man and he’s going to rape me.”
The host of the show asked, “Is she a racist?”
Earlier this year, supermodel Naomi Campbell was critical of Cadbury’s chocolate ad, “Move over Naomi, there’s a new diva in town.” The ad showed a picture of a chocolate bar, “Dairy Milk Bliss.” Campbell described the ad as racist, saying it compared her to a chocolate bar because of her skin tone.
Columnist DeWayne Wickham described the behaviors of certain GOP leaders during the debt crisis as a “more subtle form of racism.” For example, Wickham pointed to Speaker Boehner waiting more than half a day to return a call from President Obama.
Racism is one of the most volatile words in the English language. And for that reason, we are tempted to overuse it to criticize, critique, and communicate forcefully.
Yet, we do not necessarily agree on what constitutes racism. We use the term to refer to racist individuals; while some are more apt to think in terms of racist policies, procedures, and traditions. Racism frequently includes overt and sometimes covert dislikes, stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination that is related to race in some way. Some argue that racism is more than just prejudice, rather it is prejudice plus power. And for that reason, only whites can be prejudiced since they have the power.
Clearly, we do not all agree on the definition of racism. But if we use the term, we should make it clear to others how we are interpreting this term. Otherwise, as we use it more and more to refer to conflicts or misunderstandings that appear to us to involve race, it will lose its power to galvanize public attention and simply lead to more misunderstanding and less dialogue.