Racist ideologies continue to oppress Black people, and however difficult to grasp in different European contexts, racism persists. It is by no means a problem of the past; the racialisation of the Black body and identity is part of the configuration of systems of power. This configuration persists, and its manifestation significantly oppresses the lives of Black people. And thus, a critical engagement with racism starts with recognising racialisation as a societal reality. This involves the understanding of race as a social construction and the prevalence of this construction within different levels of society.

Racism encompasses ideologies in which the production of meaning is linked to power structures and exclusionary practices in which these ideologies are structurally implemented in social systems. From a critical reflection, racism is defined by two integral components: racialisation (fabrication of races) and power relations (hierarchically linking these races with power). Though the presence of racialisation is often invisible, it survives as learnt, unchallenged racist knowledge, and thus, perceived as part of a social reality. So, racist ways of thinking and practices become effective as a social structural principle that overtly or covertly, generates relations of racial discrimination. Learn more !

Racism is reflected in this systemic nature. Racism manifests as power relations that serve to establish systems that both legitimise and stabilise the unequal distributions of privilege, rights and resources based on racialisation. And thus, the achievement gaps observed within the Black communities are much more attributable to systemic barriers that are oftentimes difficult to overcome, and at the very least, take an emotional and psychological toll. From a critical perspective, if Black people did not have these limitations, they would achieve any level of success they desire. Still, despite these limitations, Black are fully capable of succeeding and excelling at the highest levels of society.