Defining Racial Discrimination?

For discrimination to occur both power and prejudice need to come together, forming barriers that oppress a person or group of people deemed inferior. Discrimination can be intentional or unintentional. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines racism, as the belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities, and produces an inherent superiority of a particular race. Racial discrimination refers to discriminatory actions based on race or skin color. Racial discrimination can exist on an institutional level; Institutions possess the ability to excluding a particular race from services, job opportunities, and rights.

Before discussing racial discrimination, I want to breakdown both racism and discrimination separately. Racism can come in the form of actions, beliefs, and policies. Examples of racism are heavy in United States history. Prior to the civil war, slavery was the predominant form of racism in America. European Americans enslaved Africans forcing them to work without compensation. In 1865, the creation of the thirteenth amendment abolished slavery in the U.S. During this time, there was a rise in in both institutional and individual racism.

Businesses incorporated policies that oppressed rights granted to newly freed African Americans. For example, voter registration offices enforced the poll tax and grandfather clause to prevent African Americans from registering to vote. In addition, the use of white only signs surfaced in business of high value. These signs allowed business owners to refuse to service non-white citizens. Individual racism centered on violent acts and verbal abuse. The mentality behind such acts was that African Americans are inferior to European Americans. This belief stemmed fr...

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