TEST #1 Racialization & Proximity to Whiteness

Racialization

Racialization refers to the social process through which physical characteristics such as skin colour are given meaning and used to categorize people into groups, shaping social relations and inequality even though race has no biological basis.

Reification of "Race"

The reification of race occurs when society continues to use and rely on the concept of race in ways that treat it as real and natural, reinforcing its social power despite scientific evidence that race is socially constructed.

Scientific Racism

Scientific racism describes historical attempts to use science to justify racial hierarchies, where European scientists developed racial typologies that framed certain groups as biologically inferior to legitimize colonialism and domination.

Racial Typologies

Racial typologies were classification systems created in the 19th century that ranked human populations based on physical traits, falsely presenting racial differences as natural and fixed.

Eurocentrism

Eurocentrism is the tendency to interpret the world through European or Anglo-American values, treating whiteness and European culture as the standard against which all others are measured.

Whiteness

Whiteness operates as an invisible position of social power that is treated as neutral and normal, allowing white identities to avoid being seen as racialized while benefiting from structural advantages.

Proximity to Whiteness

Proximity to whiteness refers to the idea that individuals or groups who more closely resemble white norms in appearance, culture, or behaviour are often granted greater social acceptance, power, and opportunity.

Internalized Racism

Internalized racism occurs when racialized individuals absorb dominant ideas that associate whiteness with superiority, leading them to devalue their own identities or communities.

Colourism

Colourism is a form of discrimination that privileges lighter skin tones over darker ones, both between and within racialized groups, reflecting colonial histories and proximity to whiteness.

Internal Dangerous Foreigners

The concept of "internal dangerous foreigners" describes how the state constructs certain racialized groups within the nation as threats in times of crisis in order to unify citizens and justify surveillance and control.

examples:

- Japanese Canadians during World War II

- Canadian Muslims in the post-9/11 era

New Racism

New racism refers to contemporary forms of racism that avoid overt racial language but rely on ideas about culture, values, or behaviour to reproduce racial hierarchies in socially acceptable ways.

Microaggressions

Microaggressions are everyday verbal, behavioural, or environmental slights that communicate negative assumptions or stereotypes, often subtly reinforcing racial inequality without explicit intent.

Democratic Racism

Democratic racism describes the coexistence of commitments to equality and fairness with beliefs or practices that maintain racial inequality, allowing racism to persist while appearing consistent with democratic values.

examples:

- "Canada is a multicultural country where everyone has equal opportunity" it ignores how colonialism, residential schools, and systemic discrimination continue to shape unequal outcomes, especially for Indigenous and racialized communities.

- "I support immigration, but immigrants should adapt to Canadian values" This frames cultural difference as the problem rather than recognizing how whiteness defines what counts as "Canadian" in the first place.

- "I don't see race — I treat everyone the same" This sounds fair and egalitarian, but refusing to acknowledge race means refusing to acknowledge racism, discrimination, or unequal starting points.

Colour-Blindness

Colour-blindness is a discourse that claims race should not be acknowledged, which ultimately obscures systemic racism by ignoring how race continues to shape lived experience and opportunity.

Equal Opportunity Discourse

The discourse of equal opportunity assumes that treating everyone the same will produce fairness, failing to account for historical and structural inequalities that continue to disadvantage racialized groups.

Blaming the Victim

Blaming the victim shifts responsibility for inequality onto marginalized groups themselves, rather than recognizing the systemic conditions that produce unequal outcomes.

Multiculturalism Discourse

Multiculturalism discourse emphasizes tolerance and coexistence but often reinforces white normativity by positioning dominant cultural practices as superior and others as merely tolerated.

Racial Hierarchies

Racial hierarchies organize social difference by ranking groups according to perceived distance from whiteness, placing white normativity at the top.

White Normativity

White normativity refers to the assumption that whiteness is the standard against which all other racial identities are measured, making racial difference meaningful only in relation to whiteness.

Critical Race Theory (CRT)

Critical Race Theory is an approach that examines how racism is embedded in laws, institutions, and social structures, centering lived experiences and challenging ideas of objectivity, colour-blindness, and meritocracy.

Why CRT Produces Discomfort

CRT generates discomfort because it disrupts dominant narratives, exposes structural power imbalances, and challenges deeply held beliefs about fairness and neutrality.

% of how much humans share genetic material

humans share as much as 99.9% of genetic material