Editing Racism (section)

=== Legal ===
Though many countries around the globe have passed [[law]]s related to race and discrimination, the first significant international [[human rights]] instrument developed by the United Nations (UN) was the [[Universal Declaration of Human Rights]] (UDHR),<ref name="UNUDHR">{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/index.html |title=Universal Declaration of Human Rights |date=6 October 2015 |publisher=[[United Nations]] |access-date=22 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171031224448/http://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/index.html |archive-date=31 October 2017}}</ref> which was adopted by the [[United Nations General Assembly]] in 1948. The UDHR recognizes that if people are to be treated with dignity, they require [[economic rights]], [[civil rights|social rights]] including education, and the rights to [[culture|cultural]] and political participation and [[Civil liberties|civil liberty]]. It further states that everyone is entitled to these rights "without distinction of any kind, such as race, [[Human skin color|colour]], sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, [[Nationality|national]] or [[society|social]] origin, property, birth or other status".

The UN does not define "racism"; however, it does define "racial discrimination". According to the 1965 UN [[International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination]],<ref name="UNICERD">{{cite web |url=http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/CERD.aspx |title=International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination |publisher=[[United Nations]]. Adopted December 1965, entered into force January 1969 |access-date=22 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240702232413/https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/international-convention-elimination-all-forms-racial |archive-date=2 July 2024}}</ref>
<blockquote>
The term "racial discrimination" shall mean any distinction, exclusion, restriction, or preference based on race, colour, [[Cultural heritage|descent]], or national or [[ethnicity|ethnic]] origin that has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other field of public life.
</blockquote>

In their 1978 [[UNESCO|United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)]] Declaration on Race and Racial Prejudice (Article 1), the UN states, "All human beings belong to a single species and are descended from a common stock. They are born equal in dignity and rights and all form an integral part of humanity."<ref name="UNESCO78">{{cite web |url=http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=13161&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html |title=Declaration on Race and Racial Prejudice |publisher=[[United Nations]] |date=1978 |access-date=22 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221122163043/https://www.unesco.org/en/legal-affairs/declaration-race-and-racial-prejudice |archive-date=22 November 2022}}</ref>

The UN definition of racial discrimination does not make any distinction between [[Discrimination based on skin color|discrimination based on ethnicity and race]], in part because the distinction between the two has been a matter of debate among [[academia|academics]], including [[Anthropology|anthropologists]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Metraux |first1=A. |year=1950 |title=United nations Economic and Security Council Statement by Experts on Problems of Race |journal=American Anthropologist |volume=53 |issue=1|pages=142–145 |doi=10.1525/aa.1951.53.1.02a00370}}</ref> Similarly, in [[Law of the United Kingdom|British law]], the phrase ''racial group'' means "any group of people who are defined by reference to their race, colour, nationality (including citizenship) or ethnic or national origin".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cps.gov.uk/publications/prosecution/rrpbcrbook.html |title=Racist and Religious Crime – CPS Prosecution Policy |publisher=The CPS |access-date=23 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100119032241/http://www.cps.gov.uk/publications/prosecution/rrpbcrbook.html |archive-date=19 January 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

In Norway, the word "race" has been removed from national laws concerning discrimination because the use of the phrase is considered problematic and unethical.<ref>{{cite news |first=Jon Dagsland |last=Holgersen |date=23 July 2010 |url=http://www.aftenposten.no/norge/Rasebegrepet-pa-vei-ut-av-loven-215256b.html |title=Rasebegrepet på vei ut av loven |language=no |trans-title=The concept of race on the way out of the law |work=[[Aftenposten]] |access-date=6 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240404043334/https://www.aftenposten.no/norge/i/eKXpK/rasebegrepet-paa-vei-ut-av-loven |archive-date=4 April 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.aftenposten.no/meninger/debatt/Rase-Et-ubrukelig-ord-6610475.html |title=Rase: Et ubrukelig ord |language=no |trans-title=Race: A useless word |work=[[Aftenposten]] |date= |access-date=10 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140301214159/http://www.aftenposten.no/meninger/debatt/Rase-Et-ubrukelig-ord-6610475.html |archive-date=1 March 2014}}</ref> The Norwegian Anti-Discrimination Act bans discrimination based on ethnicity, national origin, descent, and skin color.<ref>{{cite web |author=[[Ministry of Labour and Social Inclusion]] |url=http://www.regjeringen.no/en/dep/ad/doc/lover_regler/reglement/2005/the-anti-discrimination-act.html?id=420606 |title=The Act on prohibition of discrimination based on ethnicity, religion, etc. |website=Regjeringen.no | date=26 September 2005 |access-date=10 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230319090031/https://www.regjeringen.no/en/dokumenter/the-anti-discrimination-act/id420606/ |archive-date=19 March 2023}}</ref>