What is Racism

Racism or racialism is a form of discrimination based on race, especially the belief that one race is superior to another. Racism may be expressed individually and consciously, through explicit thoughts, feelings, or acts, or socially and unconsciously, through institutions that promote inequality between races.

In the 19th century many legitimized racist beliefs and practices through scientific theories about biological differences among races. Today, most scientists have rejected the biological basis of race or the validity of "race" as a scientific concept. Racism, then, becomes discrimination based on alleged race. Racists themselves usually do believe that humans are divided into different races.

There are two main definitions of racism today. One of them states that racism is dicrimination based on alleged race, the other - newer - one states that racism has started to include also discrimination based on religion or culture.

"Racism" is a charged word. It has several meanings:

1. Advocacy of discrimination or racial separation as public policy.

2. Practicing racial discrimination in private life and business.

3. The idea that there are differences in behavior and ability associated with membership in racial groups, especially if the association is claimed to be hereditary (so-called "scientific racism").

Definition from Wikipedia ;

Racism is the belief that there are inherent differences in people's traits and capacities which are entirely due to their race, however defined, and which consequently justify those people being treated differently, both socially and legally. Alternatively, racism is the practice of certain group/s of people being treated differently, which is then justified by recourse to racial sterotyping or pseudo-science.Those who disagree with the proposition that there are races or that there are such inherent (ie. non-personal, social or cultural) differences regard any differences in treatment of people on the basis of those criteria as being racial discrimination. Some of those who argue that there are such inherent differences also argue that one race is inferior over another race. In the case of institutional racism, certain racial groups may be denied rights or benefits, or receive preferential treatment.Racial discrimination typically points out taxonomic differences between different groups of people, although anyone may be discriminated against on an ethnic or cultural basis, independently of their somatic differences. According to the United Nations conventions, there is no distinction between the term racial discrimination and ethnicity discrimination.