Modern Racism

Modern racism is a form of prejudice against African Americans that developed in the United States after the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. It is characterized by beliefs that racism is not a continuing problem, that African Americans should put forth their own efforts to overcome their situation in society without special assistance, and that African Americans are too demanding and have gotten more than they deserve. At the roots of modern racism are basic beliefs that Blacks violate cherished U.S. values. The idea that the quality of prejudice toward Blacks can shift over time has spawned important generalizations of the theory to other groups, such as women (see the entry titled “Modern Sexism”), recent immigrant groups (including Asians and Latinos in ...