Racism

This chapter discusses that race is not a biological term by citing the human genome analysis, mixed ancestry (97.3%), and multiple ancestries (96.8%) with 5966 individuals from 282 global samples. This chapter emphasizes the importance of understanding racism is socially constructed and the importance of differentiating racism, racial discrimination, racial prejudice, and microaggression. Misunderstanding terms or inappropriate use of terms interferes with developing appropriate action plans for a particular incident. For example, action plans for racism involve changing laws, policies, and rules. However, action plans for racial discrimination involve asking specific questions with intellectual curiosity and civility to make sure both parties understand the problem correctly before developing the action plans. The role of unconscious in internalized privilege and oppression, invisibility of privilege, and visibility oppression are discussed as barriers to racial equity. Shifts in thinking (from binary to holistic) and in learning (from conceptual to holistic) are proposed to see a real person's multiple identities and their intersectionality and to dismantle racial injustice and inequity. Experiential learning activities to access inner experience on racial issues are provided for readers to connect their conceptual learning to their lived experience.