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From Citizendium, the Citizens' Compendium

Racism is the belief in the difference, and often superiority, of one racial group over another and discriminatory or hateful statements and actions based on said beliefs. This belief in racial superiority is often based on perceived difference in characteristics - physical or mental. A variety of reasons have been put forward attempting to justify racism, including religious beliefs about particular tribes (the Mormon belief that God made those who rebelled against him have redskins is one example, and there are those that emphasize religious ideas within racist movements), beliefs stemming from scientific change such as eugenics and Social Darwinism, and often the use of racism as part of political ideologies to define the Other.

Racism today

Racism is now widely condemned in Western society, especially since the Holocaust - with explicit racist groups like white nationalists often operating as secret subcultures. This does not mean racism has gone away - many people still think racism has morphed into a more enigmatic form with more use of codewords (the celebration of 'Christian', 'European' or 'Germanic' culture), and through institutional racism, where the structure of institutions like the government, universities and business, where an institution unconsciously acts in a racist way. An example of this is the criticism levelled at the Metropolitan Police Service in London following the race-motivated stabbing of the black teenager Stephen Lawrence.