Is Racism Still Relevant Today

The Oxford English Dictionary defines racism as the "belief that all members of each race possess characteristics, abilities, or qualities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races”. While this understanding of racism is logically sound, it is quite outdated. In contemporary society, a more appropriate definition of the term is the one provided by the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, which defines racial discrimination as follows-

“any distinction, exclusion, restriction, or preference based on race, colour, descent, or national or ethnic origin that has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment

However, despite its continued existence, the specifics of racism have changed. Initially, discrimination was based on race and skin colour. For instance, the negroid race (including the Africans) was often considered to be fit for slavery and white Americans considered themselves to be superior to persons of colours. New racism on the other hand is a subtle form of discrimination on the basis of cultural identity.

Racism may be visible in multiple forms- representational, ideological, discursive, interactional, institutional, structural and systematic. While old racism manifested in all of these forms, new racism tends to mostly be representational, ideological and interactional. It is visible not in state laws or social institutions, but in racist slurs, stereotyping, prejudice and –in select few cases- assault.

There’s one major distinction between the two forms of racism. While slavery was practiced in the old form of racism, new racism does not (usually) physically harm or enslave people but creates a psychological intolerance towards people belonging to a specific culture.

A very apt example of new racism would be the case of Islam in today’s

Undue importance is given to the few crimes committed by Muslims, which are then publicized and dramatized by the media. Hate crime against Islam however, takes a back seat and recieves far less attention than it deserves. This has contributed to widespread fear and suspicion of the Islamic religion- Islamophobia. Islamic racial discrimination has arisen from this idea of Islamophobia. Islamophobia has resulted in violence and damage to Islamic property and has caused harm to people of the Islamic religion. They are also not provided with equal opportunities for employment, health services and education.

During the 2008 presidential elections in the U.S, many politicians used Muslims as scapegoats. Sharia laws were banned in many states in the U.S. The Islamic Community Centre was not allowed to be built around Ground Zero in the U.S. (Ground Zero being the World Trade Centre). Hate crime rates have significantly increased against Islamic communities, resulting in a decrease in their quality of life.

This form of racism is prevalent in Europe as well- especially after the bombings in Madrid and London. Recently, there have been attacks on 26 different mosques in France where pig-heads, grenades and fire bombs were thrown in. In the U.K., replicas of mosques were built around a firing range for military training.

A racist comment was also made by the