racism
Definition
Racism is a structural and ideological system in which race, understood as a social construct rather than a biological reality, organizes political power, legal institutions, and intergroup hierarchies in ways that systematically disadvantage people of color. In the United States, racist laws such as Jim Crow and legitimizing myths about racial inferiority normalized authoritarian governance over marginalized groups, with U.S. racial segregation policies serving as a documented model for similar legislation in Nazi Germany. Colorblind ideology and selective collective memory sustain this system by obscuring its historical depth, leaving publics less equipped to recognize racism as a structural threat to democracy rather than merely an individual-level attitude.
Sources: Perez et al. (2026)
Related Terms
- authoritarianism (1 shared article)
- colorblindness (1 shared article)
- critical history (1 shared article)
- democracy (1 shared article)
Applications
Racism and Authoritarianism
Across U.S. history, racism and authoritarianism have functioned as mutually reinforcing systems, with racial threat narratives used to consolidate political power among White citizens and disenfranchise people of color in ways consistent with authoritarian governance. Jim Crow Laws exemplify this relationship, stripping Black Americans of civil liberties while legitimizing hierarchical rule through widely shared racial ideologies. Colorblind ignorance of these histories leaves contemporary publics more receptive to authoritarian rhetoric, because the structural continuity between past and present racial authoritarianism remains unrecognized.
Sources: Perez et al. (2026)
Racism and Collective Memory
Colorblind ideology operates through selective collective memory, producing curricular omissions and widespread civic ignorance that obscure the history of racist governance in the United States. Exposure to racist histories increases people's recognition that racism persists, suggesting that how a society remembers or forgets racial violence directly shapes present-day perceptions of democratic stability.
Sources: Perez et al. (2026)
Racism and Colorblind Ideology
Colorblind ideology encourages the view that race is no longer a meaningful social category, which obscures the structural origins of racial inequality and their ongoing influence on U.S. governance. Research has found an association between endorsement of colorblindness and authoritarian personality, including beliefs that marginalized groups are too demanding, a pattern that reflects how colorblindness can render systemic racism invisible while making authoritarian consolidation of power easier to achieve.
Sources: Perez et al. (2026)
