The social construction of race and the normality of racism First, race is socially constructed, not biologically natural. The biogenetic notion of race—the idea that the
human species is divided into distinct groups on the basis of inherited physical and behavioral differences—was finally refuted by genetic studies in the late 20th century. Social scientists, historians, and other scholars now agree that the notion of race is a social construction (though there is no
consensus regarding what exactly a social construction is or what the process of social construction consists of). Some CRT theorists hold that race is an artificial association or correlation between a set of physical characteristics—including skin colour, certain facial features, and hair texture—and an imagined set of psychological and behavioral tendencies, conceived as either positive or negative, good or bad. The associations have been created and maintained by dominant groups (in the United States, whites of western European descent) to justify their oppression and exploitation of other groups on the basis of the latter’s supposed inferiority, immorality, or incapacity for self-rule.
Second, racism in the United States is normal, not aberrational: it is the ordinary experience of most people of colour. Although extreme racist attitudes and beliefs are less common among whites than they were before the mid-20th century, and explicitly racist laws and legal practices—epitomized by the
Jim Crow laws that
enforced racial segregation and denied basic
civil rights to African Americans in the South—have been largely eliminated, most people of colour continue to be routinely discriminated against or otherwise unfairly treated in both public and private spheres, as demonstrated by numerous social indicators. African Americans and
Hispanic Americans (Latinxs), for example, are on average more likely than similarly qualified white persons to be denied loans or jobs; they tend to pay more than whites for a broad range of products and services (e.g., automobiles); they are more likely than whites to be unjustly suspected of criminal behaviour by police or private (white) citizens; and they are more likely than whites to be victims of
police brutality, including the unjustified use of lethal force. If convicted of a crime, people of colour, particularly African Americans, are generally imprisoned more often and for longer periods than whites who are found guilty of the same offenses. Many Blacks and Hispanics continue to live in racially segregated and impoverished neighbourhoods, in part because of zoning restrictions in many predominantly white neighbourhoods that effectively exclude lower-income residents. Predominantly Black or Hispanic neighbourhoods also tend to receive fewer or inferior public services, notably including public education. The lack of quality education in turn limits job opportunities, which makes it even more difficult to leave impoverished neighbourhoods. On average, Blacks and Hispanics also receive less or inferior medical care than whites and consequently lead shorter lives.
Many instances of racist behaviour directed at people of colour take the form of “microaggressions,” which are verbal or behavioral slights, generally subtle and often unintentional or unconscious, that communicate a
stereotype or negative attitude toward a person of colour and thus indicate an
implicit bias based on race. (Microaggressions may also be directed at members of other oppressed or
marginalized groups, such as women and LGBTQ persons.) For example, in a real-life case discussed in the CRT literature, a white professor at an
elite university, in conversation with colleagues in a campus building, saw a Black student walking down the hall and immediately exclaimed, loudly enough for the student to hear, that she should have locked the door to her office because she left her purse there. The common occurrence of racial microaggressions is indicative of the pervasiveness of racist attitudes even among people who consciously reject racism, and their
cumulative effect on people of colour can be psychologically devastating.