Racism operates at a structural level irreducible to interpersonal group rivalry

Evidence

But then Freud adds a rider: in moving from “minor differences” to major ones - let us say in moving from ethnocentrism to racism - we are, according to this argument, simply seeing the same principle “writ large.” This is the fatal leap in the argument which many Freudians have been only too keen to take (Kovel, 1988). Major differences, that is, differences that are based on structures of power and domination, are not simply interpersonal or intergroup differences aggregated. That is the prime fallacy of methodological individualism. An explanation that might plausibly apply to relations of sibling rivalry, or the territorial rivalry between two neighboring gangs, and which might also apply to rivalries between socialist or Christian sects, or between different groups of black immigrants, does not translate into a model for understanding imperial rivalries, genocidal attacks, or systematic racial discrimination. These structures simply operate at another level of determination. This is first because where the other sex, race, nation, or class is concerned, difference is primary or constitutive, and similarity is, at best, something constructed after the event. — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 1388

Categorization

• DEFINE: Sharpens the distinction between ethnocentrism/narcissism-of-minor-differences and racism proper, the latter anchored in constitutive power structures — useful for qualifying vault claims about racialization.
• XREF: Distinguishing raced/structural difference from mere group rivalry parallels Omi-Winant’s macro-vs-micro level of racial formation and corrects psychologized race readings. — connects to: Structural racism operates beyond individual intentions and prejudice — Cyra Akila Choudhury, Racecraft and Identity in the Emergence…, 42; Racism structures dominant public spheres rather than merely appearing within them; Racism based on power structures is not aggregate interpersonal antipathy (+11 more)

Broader Connections

• Structural racism operates beyond individual intentions and prejudice #corroborates (0.98) — Cyra Akila Choudhury, Racecraft and Identity in the Emergence…, 42
• Racism cannot be reduced to a scaled-up version of interpersonal prejudice #corroborates (0.95) — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 1387
• Racism based on power structures is not aggregate interpersonal antipathy #corroborates (0.92)
• Prejudice theory reduced structural racism to interpersonal attitudes measured by scales #corroborates (0.85)
• Modern racism is framed as individual deviance rather than systemic structure #corroborates (0.85) — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 1817
• Racism structures dominant public spheres rather than merely appearing within them #expands (0.80)
• Individual and structural symbolic racism share a single underlying attitudinal structure #contradicts (0.75) — Christopher Tarman and David O. Sears, The Conceptualization and Measurement…, 191
• Group settings intensify expressed racism beyond members’ individual views #complicates (0.72) — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics, 716
• Institutional racism and sexism often stem from in-group favoritism rather than overt prejudice #contradicts (0.72) — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 2483