Norwegian anti-racism as defined identity forecloses acknowledgment of actual racism.

Evidence

Europeans, on the other hand, ranked the individual above everything, giving up their culture to gain rights. And it is this that Wikan wants the law to uphold: respect for the rights of the individual, limits on family reunification, citizenship as a social contract between individuals, and no dual citizenship for places that do not share the same values and practices as Norway. While feminists such as the Southall Black Sisters share her position as I show below, Wikan’s views clearly become enmeshed in the story of European superiority. To be Norwegian is to be by definition anti-racist, and Wikan cannot bring herself to acknowledge that racism exists in Norway. What exists instead is a surfeit of kindness, as evidenced by the state’s welfare policies. — Sherene Razack, Casting Out, 278

Categorization

• XREF: The move — defining anti-racism as national essence, then using it to dismiss claims of actual racism — parallels the reader’s prior material on how moral identity shields dominant groups, and connects to colorblind-racism frameworks. — connects to: Official anti-racist discourse conveys racism through disclaimers and negative other-presentation. — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 1119