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The psychology of American racism and how to work against it

Racism is often defined as disliking or mistreating others because of their race, but that definition has come under criticism. Racism is now seen as a system of advantage based on race, fueled by everyone, whether they mean to or not, and whether they identify as racist or not.
In an essay published in
American Psychologist, Steven O. Roberts and Michael T. Rizzo asserted that present-day Americans have inherited a racist system and undeniably inherited some profoundly racist beliefs. They detailed seven factors that continue to affect American racism and suggested ways to reverse this process.
Hierarchy. White Americans are granted a status above all others. As one example, even God is often portrayed as White, which leads people to perceive White people as God-like.
Power. White Americans have the power to set norms and structure society. This extends to politicians, educators, and even parents.
White parents rarely talk with their children about race and racism, which gives White children the illusion of postracialism.
Media. White Americans are portrayed as superior to Americans of color. Over the past 20 years, the proportion of low-status Black TV characters has tripled.
Passivism. People ignore and deny that they do any of this, thus allowing the system to persist.
The featured paper in this issue of APA Journals Article Spotlight details seven factors that continue to affect American racism and recommendations to reverse this process.
www.apa.org