Racism and Anti-Racism in the Modern World

Arguably, both racism and anti-racism are forms of prejudice—and this means they transcend economics.

Mar 1, 2021

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., front row, second from left, and other civil rights leaders march on Constitution Avenue in Washington, DC, August 28, 1963. NARA

In the wake of the brutal murder of George Floyd, the Polish-Nigerian political scientist, Remi Adekoya, penned a reflective article on the Black Lives Matter movement. In the article, Adekoya defended a quasi-Marxist perspective on extirpating anti-black racism. At the heart of his argument is the notion that anti-black racism is the direct result of a lack of respect for the black community, on the basis of economic disempowerment. Black polities and communities are, by many estimations, amongst the most impoverished in the world and Adekoya highlights how ‘a disproportionate wealth and power gap is not conducive to balanced race relations’. Whilst this argument is compelling at face value, the monocausal and bourgeois ideology behind it is far too simplistic; the argument lacks the very apposite social-psychological comprehension of racism that gives anti-racism its counteractive force. Arguably, both racism and anti-racism are forms of prejudice—and this means they transcend economics.

THE ORIGINS OF PREJUDICE

The term ‘prejudice’ itself derives from the Latin word praejudicium (prae – in advance + judicium – judgement), where a judgement is made without any prior experience or knowledge. Social psychologists Wade and Tavris posit that such unfounded judgement engenders a strong feeling of hatred toward people of a different race, sex, class, nationality, religion or ethnicity. Indeed, there are as many forms of prejudice as there are myriad identities and racism is without a doubt a prejudicial sentiment. Sexism, for instance, is a form of prejudice primarily against women based on the false presupposition that they are mentally and physically inferior to men—a claim often used to justify their exclusion from education and employment opportunities.

On another level, such sexist beliefs owe to certain deep-seated patriarchal norms that prejudge women and deny them the equal opportunity of self-realisation. In her book, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, Mary Wollstonecraft contends that what separates men from women has nothing to do with nature but with education—that is, how both sexes are raised. Other forms of prejudice—nationalism, ethnocentrism, classism, tribalism, ableism and the like—function similar to sexism: false assumptions and prejudgments result in one group of people being perceived as superior and dissimilar groups being ‘othered’, which fuels subsequent disparity in multifarious spheres of life.

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About the Author

Promise Frank Ejiofor

holds an MPhil in Social Anthropology from Trinity College, University of Cambridge. His research interests lie at the intersection of nationalism, citizenship, ethnic politics, and international security.

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Racism and Anti-Racism in the Modern World

THE ORIGINS OF PREJUDICE