Racism denial in Australia: the power of silence

Ideas of 'race' have shaped social and political relations all over the world over centuries. Racist beliefs and behaviours are often manifested in multiple, historically specific, situationally variable, often contradictory ways that intersect very closely with nationalist and religious identity, and are gendered. We need to think of racism in complex ways. Van Dijk provides useful ways of thinking about racism: Racism as domination—a specific kind of power of one group over others; Racism as discrimination—discriminatory practices that reproduce racism in everyday life but also limit access to control over resources causing inequalities; Racism as Institution—which penetrates the different levels of organisations and their procedures such as political, judicial, media, education systems; Racism as racist beliefs—which inform everyday interactions including prejudices, stereotypes, myths and racist ideologies; and Racism as discourse—which reproduces racism, through public debates, literature, film, news, articles, and even gossip.