How we define racism

  • Structural racism refers to the legacies of historical, cultural, economic, political, legal and psychological arrangements that still today normalise and legitimise racism and racial inequity.

    Reframing Race

  • Institutional racism refers to unjust policies, procedures and prevailing social rules that tend to harm or work less well for Black and Minoritised people and to work in favour of white people.

    Reframing Race

  • Systemic racism describes the ways that individual, institutional and structural racism jointly produce relative harms to Black and Minoritised people and relative help to white people.

    Reframing Race

Make It

We use the definitions by ‘Reframing Race’ to define race and racism.

Racism: Is the ideologically based practice of classifying humans into a racial hierarchy which informs, requires and justifies actions and inactions – e.g., by legislators, decision-makers or individuals – that tend to harm Black and Minoritised people and help white people.

Anti-racism: Is the practice of identifying and ending racism by changing the values, structures and behaviours that enable it.

Race Equity: Is the work of ending racial disparities and breaking the link between life outcomes and ‘race’ or ethnicity. Race equity builds on anti-racism because it focuses on treating people in an appropriate way – not necessarily in the same way – in order to overcome inequitable outcomes.

Racial justice: Is a vision for a world transformed beyond recognition. It marks a future beyond ‘race’, racial hierarchy, racism and racial inequities, where proactive measures, structures and systems to ensure racial equity are normalised to allow Black and Minoritised and all people to thrive.

Black and Minoritised people: Different ethnic groups experience racist ideologies, practices, and impacts in distinct ways. Among the populations that are negatively affected are individuals of African, Caribbean, East Asian and South Asian backgrounds, as well as populations that ‘pass’ as white, such as Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people and Jewish people. There is no consensus among the public or activists about how to describe such a heterogeneous group. In many instances it is most helpful to be specific about which populations are harmed by particular race inequities. The term that we use in this report is ‘Black and Minoritised’. ’ It points to the active processes of marginalisation involved in racist practice, including the unequal allocation of power, resources and status.

More resources on terminology and language