Anti-racism

Anti-racism refers to beliefs, actions, movements, and policies adopted or developed to oppose racism. In general, anti-racism is intended to promote an egalitarian society in which people do not face discrimination on the basis of their race, however defined. By its nature, anti-racism tends to promote the view that racism in a particular society is both pernicious and socially pervasive, and that particular changes in political, economic, and/or social life are required to eliminate it.

Controversies

Despite anti-racism's successes, however, many people feel that racism is still a powerful force in Western societies. Proponents of the stronger forms of anti-racism point to ongoing differences in quality of life among different races and say that rooting out discriminatory attitudes and practices is a requirement of simple justice. Thus, they argue that racism still drives such phenomena as the drug war, the prison system, ongoing segregation of housing, racial profiling, police brutality, U.S. imperialism, and possibly the immigration reductionism movement. Anti-racists may advocate various responses to this problem, from constitutional changes (for instance, changes in drug laws or in school funding) to greater individual sensitivity. A few of the more controversial programs advocated by some anti-racists include reparations, affirmative action, diversity training, and the antifa movement.

Related Topics:
Justice - Drug war - Prison system - Segregation - Racial profiling - Police brutality - Imperialism - Immigration reductionism - Reparations - Affirmative action - Diversity training - Antifa

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Critics of contemporary anti-racism say that ethnicity amid some degree of ethnocentrism is legitimate and beneficial, that there are non-discriminatory explanations to most racial differences in social and economic position, and that the presumption that discrimination is pervasive, hidden and immensely destructive leads to intolerable bureaucratic interference in the daily lives of individuals, organizations, and communities. Overall, conservative and right-wing groups in general typically consider anti-racism to be fueled by a leftist coalition between white guilt and identity politics. However, as noted above, anti-anti-racist groups do not consider themselves racist. On the contrary, they often charge the left with reverse racism, and insist that the right is the true inheritor of anti-racism's egalitarian tradition.

Related Topics:
Ethnicity - Ethnocentrism - Conservative - Right-wing - White guilt - Identity politics - Reverse racism

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In recent years the belief that race has no effect on intelligence or potential -- a basic tenet of anti-racist philosophy -- has been attacked by scholars such as Charles Murray, Michael Levin, and J. Philippe Rushton and defended by other scholars such as Stephen Jay Gould and Richard Lewontin.

Related Topics:
Charles Murray - Michael Levin - J. Philippe Rushton - Stephen Jay Gould - Richard Lewontin

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