Editing Racism (section)

=== Social and behavioral sciences ===
{{Main|Sociology of race and ethnic relations}}

[[Sociology|Sociologists]], in general, recognize "race" as a [[Social constructivism|social construct]]. This means that, although the concepts of race and racism are based on observable biological characteristics, any conclusions drawn about race on the basis of those observations are heavily influenced by cultural ideologies. Racism, as an ideology, exists in a society at both the individual and institutional level.

While much of the research and work on racism during the last half-century or so has concentrated on "white racism" in the Western world, historical accounts of race-based social practices can be found across the globe.<ref name="Gossett">Gossett, Thomas F. ''Race: The History of an Idea in America''. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997. {{ISBN|0-19-509778-5}}</ref> Thus, racism can be broadly defined to encompass individual and group prejudices and acts of discrimination that result in material and cultural advantages conferred on a majority or a dominant social group.<ref>{{cite book |title=Racist America: Roots, Current Realities, and Future Reparations |publisher=[[Routledge]] |last=Feagin |first=Joe R. |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-415-92531-0 |url=https://archive.org/details/racistamericaroo00feag_0}}</ref> So-called "white racism" focuses on societies in which white populations are the majority or the dominant social group. In studies of these majority white societies, the aggregate of material and cultural advantages is usually termed "[[white privilege]]".

Race and race relations are prominent areas of study in [[sociology]] and [[economics]]. Much of the sociological literature focuses on white racism. Some of the earliest sociological works on racism were written by sociologist [[W. E. B. Du Bois]], the first African American to earn a doctoral degree from [[Harvard University]]. Du Bois wrote, "[t]he problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the [[color line (civil rights issue)|color line]]."<ref name="DuBois03">{{cite book |title=The Souls of Black Folk |publisher=Bantam Classic |last=Du Bois |first=W. E. B. |author-link=W. E. B. Du Bois |year=1903 |location=New York |title-link=The Souls of Black Folk}}</ref> Wellman (1993) defines racism as "culturally sanctioned beliefs, which, regardless of intentions involved, defend the advantages whites have because of the subordinated position of racial minorities".<ref name="Wellman">{{cite book |last=Wellman |first=David T. |title=Portraits of White Racism |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1993 |location=New York |page=x}}</ref> In both sociology and economics, the outcomes of racist actions are often measured by the [[Social inequality|inequality]] in [[income]], [[wealth]], [[net worth]], and access to other cultural resources (such as education), between racial groups.<ref name="Massey89">{{cite journal |title=Hypersegregation in U.S. Metropolitan areas: Black and Hispanic Segregation Along Five Dimensions |last1=Massey |first1=D. |author1-link=Douglas S. Massey |first2=N. |last2=Denton |author2-link=Nancy A. Denton |name-list-style=amp |journal=[[Demography (journal)|Demography]] |year=1989 |volume=26 |issue=3 |pages=378–379 |doi=10.2307/2061599 |jstor=2061599 |pmid=2792476 |s2cid=37301240 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

In sociology and [[social psychology]], [[Identity (social science)|racial identity]] and the acquisition of that identity, is often used as a variable in racism studies. Racial ideologies and racial identity affect individuals' perception of race and discrimination. Cazenave and Maddern (1999) define racism as "a highly organized system of 'race'-based group privilege that operates at every level of society and is held together by a sophisticated ideology of color/'race' supremacy. Racial centrality (the extent to which a culture recognizes individuals' racial identity) appears to affect the degree of discrimination African-American young adults perceive whereas racial ideology may buffer the detrimental emotional effects of that discrimination."<ref name="Cazenave">{{cite journal |title=Defending the White Race: White Male Faculty Opposition to a White Racism Course |last1=Cazenave |first1=Noel A. |first2=Darlene Alvarez |last2=Maddern |name-list-style=amp |journal=Race and Society |year=1999 |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=25–50 |doi=10.1016/s1090-9524(00)00003-6}}</ref> Sellers and Shelton (2003) found that a relationship between racial discrimination and emotional distress was moderated by racial ideology and social beliefs.<ref name="Sellers03">{{cite journal |title=The role of racial identity in perceived racial discrimination |last1=Sellers |first1=R. M. |first2=J. N. |last2=Shelton |name-list-style=amp |journal=[[Journal of Personality and Social Psychology]] |year=2003 |volume=84 |issue=5 |pages=1079–1092 |doi=10.1037/0022-3514.84.5.1079 |pmid=12757150}}</ref>

Some sociologists also argue that, particularly in the West, where racism is often [[Social control|negatively sanctioned]] in society, racism has changed from being a blatant to a more covert expression of racial prejudice. The "newer" (more hidden and less easily detectable) forms of racism—which can be considered embedded in social processes and structures—are more difficult to explore and challenge. It has been suggested that, while in many countries overt or explicit racism has become increasingly [[taboo]], even among those who display egalitarian explicit attitudes, an [[Implicit-association test|implicit]] or [[aversive racism]] is still maintained subconsciously.<ref name="Greenwald" />

This process has been studied extensively in social psychology as implicit associations and [[implicit attitude]]s, a component of [[implicit cognition]]. Implicit attitudes are evaluations that occur without conscious awareness towards an attitude object or the self. These evaluations are generally either favorable or unfavorable. They come about from various influences in the individual experience.<ref>{{cite book |title=Implicit attitudes 101: Theoretical and empirical Insights |last=Devos |first=T. |publisher=[[Psychology Press]] |year=2008 |location=New York |chapter=Attitudes and attitude change |pages=61–84}}</ref> Implicit attitudes are not consciously identified (or they are inaccurately identified) traces of past experience that mediate favorable or unfavorable feelings, thoughts, or actions towards social objects.<ref name="Greenwald">{{cite journal |last1=Greenwald |first1=A.G. |last2=Banaji |first2=M. R. |year=1995 |title=Implicit social cognition: Attitudes, self-esteem, and stereotypes |journal=[[Psychological Review]] |volume=102 |issue=1 |pages=4–27 |doi=10.1037/0033-295x.102.1.4 |pmid=7878162 |citeseerx=10.1.1.304.6161 |s2cid=8194189}}</ref> These feelings, thoughts, or actions have an influence on behavior of which the individual may not be aware.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Gawronski |first1=B. |last2=Payne |first2=B. K. |title=Handbook of Implicit Social Cognition: Measurement, Theory and Application |date=2010 
|publisher=[[Guilford Press]] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8UiqBlGT7z4C |isbn=978-1-60623-674-1}}</ref>

Therefore, subconscious racism can influence our visual processing and how our minds work when we are subliminally exposed to faces of different colors. In thinking about crime, for example, [[Social psychology|social psychologist]] [[Jennifer Eberhardt|Jennifer L. Eberhardt]] (2004) of [[Stanford University]] holds that, "blackness is so associated with crime you're ready to pick out these crime objects."<ref name="Eberhardt04">{{cite journal |title=Seeing Black: Race, Crime, and Visual Processing |last=Eberhardt |first=Jennifer L. |journal=[[Journal of Personality and Social Psychology]] |year=2004 |volume=87 |issue=6 |pages=876–893 |doi=10.1037/0022-3514.87.6.876 |display-authors=etal |pmid=15598112 |citeseerx=10.1.1.408.3542|s2cid=6322610 }}</ref> Such exposures influence our minds and they can cause subconscious racism in our behavior towards other people or even towards objects. Thus, racist thoughts and actions can arise from stereotypes and fears of which we are not aware.<ref name="Eberhardt14">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=itTHBAAAQBAJ&q=Racism+goes+beyond+prejudicial+discrimination+and+bigotry.+It+arises+from+stereotypes+and+fears+of+which+we+are+vastly+unaware.&pg=PA202 |title=Drugs, Crime, and Justice |publisher=[[SAGE Publications]] |date=2014 |last1=Belenko |first1=Steven |first2=Cassia |last2=Spohn |author2-link=Cassia Spohn |name-list-style=amp |isbn=978-1-4833-1295-8}}</ref> For example, scientists and activists have warned that the use of the stereotype "Nigerian Prince" for referring to [[advance-fee scam]]mers is racist, i.e. "reducing Nigeria to a nation of scammers and fraudulent princes, as some people still do online, is a [[stereotype]] that needs to be called out".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Yékú |first1=James |title=Anti-Afropolitan ethics and the performative politics of online scambaiting |journal=[[Social Dynamics]] |date=3 May 2020 |volume=46 |issue=2 |pages=240–258 |doi=10.1080/02533952.2020.1813943 |s2cid=222232833}}</ref>