Historic Definition of Racism: “Prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior.” (Lexico)
Modern Definition of Racism: “It's wrong to think people are inferior because of something like their skin color, or to be mean to them because of that." (McWhorter, 2019)
Throwing around the word "racism" can undermine serious issues, such as police brutality, that fit the dictionary definition of racism. However, the modern definition of racism is valuable, as it is correct in that people should not be seen as or treated as inferior because of their race. There are three components of racism. Stereotyping is the cognitive process of grouping people into categories, or schemata, based on certain characteristics. Prejudices are the bias, beliefs, and attitudes one holds towards that group of people. Discrimination is the action of treating a group differently or the behaviors a person displays towards that group because of the prejudice held by that person (Brannon, 2017). Some examples of racism are extreme, such as the cases of police brutality that we are addressing through our quilt. However, the reason the modern definition of racism is important is because it targets the root of the problem of racism. Racism starts with the stereotypes, the differential treatment, and the derogatory terms. Though it does not have the same implications, and by no means is it as damaging as taking a person's life because of their race, it does need to be taken seriously because it plants the seeds for racism. With our quilt, we will be addressing this disconnect that many people have - the "invisible" racism, or the implicit attitudes and beliefs we hold that seem to be invisible or unimportant. Part of the issue with police brutality is that certain police officers hold these implicit beliefs about African-Americans. Although many people write this issue off saying, "everyone is entitled to their own opinions," it becomes a problem when those opinions lead to the deaths of hundreds of innocent people.