• may be defined as any attitude, action, institutional structure, or social policy that subordinates persons or groups b/c of their color
• the manifestation of racism can occur at at 3 levels: institutional, individual, cultural/societal

• overt, conscious, deliberate individual acts intended to harm, place at a disadvantage, or discriminate against minorities
• ex. not showing Blacks homes in white affluent neighborhoods, serving blacks last in stores, etc.

IR:

• any policy, practice, procedure, or structure in business, industry, government, courts, churches, municipalities, etc in which decisions & actions are made that unfairly subordinate persons of color while allowing other groups to profit from the outcomes
• ex. racial profiling, segregated churches & neighborhoods,discriminatory hiring, promotion practices, ed- that ignore minorities hxs
• institutional bias is often masked in policies of standard operating procedures

• the most insidious & damaging b/c it serves as the overall theory under which the other 2 thrives
• it is the individual & institutional expression of the superiority of 1 group's cultural heritage over another group's & the power to impose those standards on other groups.
• ex. Native Americans were forbidden at 1 time from practicing their cultural spiritual traditions b/c we are a Christian nation/people

• the overt form of racism morphed into a subtle, unconscious awareness of their acts of MAs. these contemporary forms of racism - symbolic, modern, implicit racism
• aversion racism related to racial ma b/c person is good, decent, egalitarians who act unconsciously 
• ex of cultural racism - professor teaches about American psychology from eurocentric/ethnocentric perspective but fail to acknowledge minorities experiential realities
• environmental racial MAs as the readings, lectures of course come from 1 perspective & do not represent the global community 

• when professor tells a black student to calm down - MA-their too emotional;
• blacks are prone to emotional outburst;
• emotions are antagonistic to reason & conversations s/b objective & unemotional in classroom
• the communication style of many blacks is dysfunctional 

• sexism can be overt & consciously acted out; blatant, unfair tmt towards women is manifested in sexual harassmt, physical abuse, discriminatory practices, or subjugating women to hostile male dominant workplace
• subtle forms of sexism by good moral men place women at a disadvantage, infantilize or stereotype them, deny them equal access & opportunity
• gender MAs occurs frequently, they devalue their contributions, objectify women as sex objects, dismiss their accomplishments, limits their effectiveness in social, educational, employment, professional settings
• ex. not being acknowledged by male boss, overlooked when contributing in the meetings; male students are called on to answer the professor's questions - hidden msg women's contributions are less worthy than their male counterparts

• men stare lecherously at women - overt sexist expression is often communicated in forms: whistling & catcalling women or staring hard at them undressing them publicly
• hidden msg:
• #1 a woman's appearance is for the pleasure of men
• #2 women are weak, dependent, & need help
• #3 a woman's body is not her own
• male interviewer states he does not see gender differences, that every is treated equally, that all have a chance at being hired - these statemts infer gender blindness
• he is unaware that denial of gender differences is a MA that denies the experiential reality of women & allow men to deny their own privileged positions

• minority groups marginalized by society exist on the outer limits of social desirability & consciousness
• they are confined to the edge of systems: social, environmental, political, economic, cultural
• they experience exclusion, inequality, & social injustice
• these MAs appear in interpersonal or environmental encounters/symbols reflecting marginality & worldview of inclusion/exclusion, superiority/inferiority, desirability/undesirability, or normality/abnormality