Aversive Racism - Implicit Versus Explicit Racism

Implicit Versus Explicit Racism

While the social and political movements to eliminate racism in our society may have decreased overt displays of racism, only explicit racism is thereby affected. Explicit racism includes any thoughts or behaviors that demonstrate a conscious acknowledgement of racist attitudes and beliefs. Implicit racism, in contrast, includes nonconscious biases, expectations, or tendencies that exist within an individual, regardless of ill-will or any self-aware prejudices the person may or may not hold.

The passage of civil rights legislation and socially enforced taboos against explicit racism have served to inhibit direct outward expressions of prejudice against minorities over the last several decades. But forms of implicit racism including Aversive racism, Symbolic racism, and Ambivalent prejudice, may have come to replace these overt expressions of prejudice. Research has not revealed a downward trend in implicit racism that would mirror the decline of explicit racism.

Furthermore, implicit racism, when explicit racism is absent or rare, raises new issues. When surveyed about their attitudes concerning the racial climate in America, Blacks and Whites had largely different perceptions, with Blacks viewing racial discrimination as far more impactful on income and education disparities, and being far less satisfied in general with the treatment of minorities in America. One explanation for this is that because explicit racism is so much less prevalent, Whites no longer perceive directly the ways that prejudice leaves its mark on American society; minorities, on the other hand, still recognize or feel the implicit racism behind certain interracial interactions.