Forms of Racial Discrimination

Racial discrimination takes a number of forms. It can be direct or indirect and can also include victimization and harassment. Sadly, it remains with us in all of those forms and people need to be aware that it can still happen to them.

Racial discrimination has a long and sordid history. Some racial discrimination is as obvious as 'Whites Only' signs in the Jim Crow south. Some can be more subtle.

There are four basic kinds of racial discrimination: direct, indirect, victimization and harassment.

• Direct racial discrimination is when somebody is openly treating individuals differently by their race. An example would be hiring a white candidate and passing over a better qualified black or Hispanic. Other examples would be refusing to rent to a black family or putting their apartment at the bottom of the maintenance queue in an emergency.


• Indirect racial discrimination is setting a qualification that appears innocent on the face of it but which actually has a negative impact on members of a specific group. One historic example is literacy tests required for voting in the south, which were disproportionately failed by the less well educated blacks. Another example would be insisting that an employee's first language be English when this is not a reasonable qualification for the job.


• Victimization is treating somebody badly for complaining about discrimination. It is therefore not limited to racial minorities; whites have been victimized for sticking up for a black co-worker they felt was being unfairly treated. This is similar to punishing people for whistleblowing and may be covered by whistleblower protections.


• Harassment is simply acting in an intimidating or unpleasant manner to individuals of a racial minority. Bullying is a form of harassment, as is teasing somebody about religious dress or beliefs. Tagging racial epithets on walls or making physical threats also constitute harassment. Basically, anything that makes it hard for members of a minority to do their job, learn at school or stay comfortably in their home is harassment.