Racism functions structurally apart from individuals’ personal intent

Evidence

It can be disquieting for people to be told that “independently of their own sense of personal agency they are perpetuating a form of racist practice” (Husband, 1991:53). In the case discussed, the accusation of racism shifts the focus of attention away from the initial problem. The director demands time and energy from the project coordinator in order to deal with his hurt feelings, in the course of which he tries to redefine the situation as a question concerning whether he is a racist or not. — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 1477

Categorization

• DEFINE: Grounds the definitional point that institutional/systemic racism can be perpetuated independently of personal agency — the heart of structural-racism definitions.
• XREF: Relevant to the vault’s definitions of systemic/institutional racism and the distinction from individual prejudice-based accounts. — connects to: Racism is a societal system of ethnic and racial domination, not merely ideology — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 1051; Structural racism operates beyond individual intentions and prejudice — Cyra Akila Choudhury, Racecraft and Identity in the Emergence…, 42; Modern racism is framed as individual deviance rather than systemic structure — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 1817 (+9 more)

Broader Connections

• Structural racism operates beyond individual intentions and prejudice #corroborates (1.00) — Cyra Akila Choudhury, Racecraft and Identity in the Emergence…, 42
• Racism based on power structures is not aggregate interpersonal antipathy #corroborates (0.95)
• Racism operates at a structural level irreducible to interpersonal group rivalry #corroborates (0.95) — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 1388
• Racism operates through whole institutions and eras, not only individual intentions #corroborates (0.95) — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 1558
• Racism cannot be reduced to a scaled-up version of interpersonal prejudice #corroborates (0.90) — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 1387
• Modern racism is framed as individual deviance rather than systemic structure #expands (0.85) — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 1817
• Racelessness individualizes and personalizes what is actually structural racism #expands (0.85)
• Lay explanations of racism favor individual pathology over structural factors #corroborates (0.80) — Cristian Tileagă, The Nature of Prejudice, 353
• Individual and structural symbolic racism share a single underlying attitudinal structure #complicates (0.75) — Christopher Tarman and David O. Sears, The Conceptualization and Measurement…, 191
• Racism structures dominant public spheres rather than merely appearing within them #expands (0.75)