Covert racism is a form of racial discrimination that is disguised and subtle, rather than public or obvious. Concealed in the fabric of society, covert racism discriminates against individuals through often evasive or seemingly passive methods. Covert, racially biased decisions are often hidden or rationalized with an explanation that society is more willing to accept. These racial biases cause a variety of problems that serve to empower the suppressors while diminishing the rights and powers of the oppressed. Covert racism often works subliminally, and much of the discrimination is done subconsciously.
History in the U.S. With the history of racial inequality in the United States, racism has long been an issue. The enslavement of millions of blacks along with the huge influx of immigrants throughout its history resulted in great diversity but also racial segregation. With the abolition of slavery, different forms of segregation were implemented, including Jim Crow laws and later American social and political structures, which led to segregation within cities and the suburbanization of the working and middle classes. As overt racial discrimination became illegal and less apparent, the idea of the nation homogenizing became popular. As the U.S. accepted more immigrants from different cultures, various "melting pots" of unity were seen to arise. Along with this, ideologies posited that every group of immigrants goes through the same discrimination. Many groups eventually assimilate, but racism still exists, often in different forms and to different degrees.
When black G.I.s returned home from the Vietnam War, they were denied the money promised to them to support their education and help them buy homes. While only 9.5% of soldiers serving in Vietnam were black, they comprised nearly 20% of front-line troops and 25% or more of airborne divisions. Black servicemen were twice as likely to re-enlist in the Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force and three times as likely to re-enlist in the Army as their white counterparts, not for any sense of adventure but because they found the monetary rewards to be promising and they were treated more equally.
De cardio racism De cardio racism is a term coined by John L. Jackson Jr. Jackson states that the rise of de cardio racism can be traced to the aftermath of the legislative and political success of the Civil Rights Movement. Those obvious victories, he suggests, did not lead the US into a racial color-blind society but rather shifted racist beliefs to the "hearts" of Americans. To Jackson, this reimagines the manifestation of racism—away from blatant Jim Crow-era discrimination and towards covert, deniable subtleties. Jackson argues, "De cardio racism is about what the law can't touch, what won't be easily proved or disproved, what can't be simply criminalized and deemed unconstitutional. It is racism that is most terrifying because it is hidden, secret, papered over with public niceties and politically correct jargon." In this new era, Jackson states that we must develop new tools to detect racial dog whistles and to penetrate the "hearts" of those who harbor racist beliefs without becoming distracted by empty rhetoric. As compared to the past, where activists confronted a clear and tangible discriminatory foe, Jackson states that modern activists must contend with an opponent parroting the rhetoric of racial equality but not backing it up with any action. The racism is hidden, covert, and tucked away in a part of Americans' hearts that is hard to reach. He argues that they must navigate the head-scratching silence of white Americans who engaged in violent racist attacks just a generation ago. In Jackson's words, "De Cardio Racism asks: where did all of yesterday's racial wolves go, and why do all these sheep seem to be standing around licking their chops?"
De facto racism De facto racism refers to racism "in fact", or as a matter of circumstance and personal choice. In the post-Civil Rights Era, governments and institutions could no longer overtly discriminate based on race in law, regulation, or policy. Modern de facto racism refers to forms of discrimination that may not be overt but still produce disparate outcomes. Pertinent examples include continued school segregation. Although de jure racist practices of housing segregation were outlawed by the passage of the 1968 Fair Housing Act, de facto racist practices such as "redlining" and "white flight" largely trapped black households in the inner cities and saw white families move to the suburbs. Other de facto racist policies, like basing school funding off property taxes, have led to disparate investment in public schools.
De facto racism can also exist as the lingering remnants of centuries of de jure racism. Past generations of black families' inability to become homeowners or attend well-funded schools has hindered long-term social mobility. As a result, black families are not able to cultivate generational wealth or pass on social or cultural capital to their children. This has led to a persistent wealth gap between black and white families. In 2022, white households held on average $252,000 more than the average black family.
Colonialism After the departure of Western imperial powers from their former colonies, many nations in the Global South were left with odious debt, crumbling institutions, economic decline, and a social morass. No longer in control of their former colonies, some people in the West looked for ways to explain the lasting impact of their colonial rule. Covert concepts that blamed the culture of former colonies replaced clear, moral, and scientific boundaries between the colonizers and colonies. Notable examples include "cultural deficits" and "deficient human capital". To explain this rhetoric, some scholars argue that the moral separation did not go away but changed forms as fatalistic concepts like a "culture of poverty" turned attention away from structural inequities left from colonial rule and put the onus on former colonies.
White savior complex Enlightenment colonialism refers to a set of cultural norms that served as a justification for colonial rule. Enlightenment colonialism comes from the philosophy of the White Man's Burden and the supposed moral responsibility of white people to "save" the "uncivilized" people in the Global South. The fundamental premise rests on the cultural inferiority of former colonies compared to the "civilized" culture of Western powers. Economic exploitation, slavery, and oppression were justified by the promise of introducing the tenets of a "civilized society" as defined by the fundamental elements of Western culture.
Emerging from decades of Enlightenment colonialism came the white savior complex. Although "white saviors" may not overtly impose Western cultural norms, what is similar about both philosophies is the premise of cultural inferiority and the erasure of the agency of former colonies. White Saviorism assumes that the people impacted by the problem, usually in developing nations, are incapable of creating their own solutions and that white people must intervene to save them. Critics of white saviorism argue that it perpetuates a subtle dependency from the survivor to the savior. Developing countries become reliant on charity from Western charities, which puts the recipient in a subservient position to the giver. White saviors have also been criticized for prioritizing their values over the experience of the local community. However, many argue that Western charity is a net good and that it is the responsibility of wealthy nations in the west to support low-income nations in the global south. Nonetheless, many developmental economists have pointed out the tangible importance of including the community in humanitarian solutions.
Language Covert racism in language, or coded racism, is the deployment of common stereotypes or tropes to elucidate a racially charged idea. Rather than expressly perpetuating racist tropes, covert linguistic racism is seen as rational or "common sense", and many are not aware of its impact. The term microaggressions has been used to describe the deployment of covert racism in language that usually represents an unconscious bias. The term was invented by Chester M. Pierce in 1970 to describe insults he witnessed non-black Americans inflicting on black students. Although the speaker does not state an expressed racial opinion, they often reinforce stereotypes that make the recipient feel outside the norm; a recipient of a microaggression feels as though their individuality becomes lost to an underlying stereotype. Notable examples include asking a person of color where they learned to speak English or presuming that a black person is dangerous. In all cases, the speaker generalizes or idealizes a quality that simultaneously degrades a minority group. However, some scholars have criticized the term for its lack of scientific evidence, reliance on subjective evidence, and elevation of victimhood by focusing on a term connoting harm.
Racial stereotypes Racial or cultural stereotyping refers to generalizing a group based on a simplified set of norms, behaviors, or characteristics. Although stereotypes can take on positive or negative connotations, they can be intrinsically harmful. The three main arguments are that they reduce an individual to a set of oversimplified characteristics, leave no room for change, and insist the stereotypes are natural and/or biological. Some scholars suggest that stereotyping is a method to reinforce entrenched power structures by making arbitrary social divisions seem "natural" and inevitable. Stereotypes also erase one's individuality and impose rigid norms, leading to frequent tension between one's identity and their perceived social role.
Racial stereotypes have been a powerful tool to lock people of color out of valuable socioeconomic resources, oftentimes inflicting self-destructive behavior. A 2010 study found that victims of stereotyping were more likely to be aggressive, lack self-control, and overindulge in carbohydrate-heavy foods. Furthermore, there is also research showing that individuals who are stereotyped are more likely to behave according to the stereotype, further reinforcing its validity and increasing its pull on targeted groups.
The data around racial stereotypes paints a clear picture of their pervasiveness and utility among white people against people of color. A study by Laura Green of Virginia Commonwealth University showed that 58.9 percent of black and white subjects endorsed at least one stereotypical difference in inborn ability. Additionally, whites are 10 times more likely to be seen as superior in artistic ability and abstract thinking ability, and African-Americans are 10 times more likely to be seen as superior in athletic ability and rhythmic ability. Further, 49 percent of subjects endorsed stereotypical differences in physical characteristics, such as blacks experience less physical pain than whites and have thicker skulls and skin.
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