Old-fashioned racism (OFR) is a type of racism that asserts that minorities are
biologically inferior to white people. OFR is also associated with the belief that minorities
should be segregated from white society, and that minorities do not deserve policies to help mitigate the barriers of discrimination.
Definition
People who exhibit old-fashioned racism endorse derogatory statements about the innate capabilities and intellect of minorities. Proponents are also likely to support
racial segregation
Racial segregation is the separation of people into race (human classification), racial or other Ethnicity, ethnic groups in daily life. Segregation can involve the spatial separation of the races, and mandatory use of different institutions, ...
of schools and housing.
OFR has mostly been applied to white perceptions of black people in the US, though there is evidence of old-fashioned racism towards other minority groups such as Muslims. OFR is also known as traditional racism,
Jim Crow
The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws introduced in the Southern United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that enforced racial segregation, " Jim Crow" being a pejorative term for an African American. The last of the ...
racism, and blatant racism.
History
Though old-fashioned racism was highly prevalent in the US from approximately 1940–1990, OFR generally fell out of favor and was replaced by
laissez-faire racism or
symbolic racism
Symbolic racism (also known as modern-symbolic racism, modern racism, symbolic prejudice, and racial resentment) is a coherent belief system that reflects an underlying one-dimensional prejudice towards a racialized ethnicity. ''Symbolic racis ...
.
These forms of racism de-emphasize biological inferiority of minorities. Instead, they are characterized by the belief that minorities do not uphold traditional American values, particularly the
Protestant work ethic
The Protestant work ethic, also known as the Calvinist work ethic or the Puritan work ethic, is a work ethic concept in sociology, economics, and history. It emphasizes that a person's subscription to the values espoused by the Protestantism, Pro ...
.
The scholar Michael Tesler argues that the election of the first black president
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
in 2008 caused a resurgence of old-fashioned racism in US society. Tesler found that both overt, old-fashioned racism and racial resentment influenced how people perceived Obama.
References
{{Racism topics
Racism in the United States