Internalized racism

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Adherence to racist beliefs and customs by subordinated groups

title: "Internalized racism" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["racism", "sociological-terminology", "self-hatred"] description: "Adherence to racist beliefs and customs by subordinated groups" topic_path: "philosophy" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internalized_racism" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Adherence to racist beliefs and customs by subordinated groups ::

A 1993 study on Asian American students at predominately white colleges found that "the students relied heavily on the negative images that the dominant group had of Asians in forming their own everyday sense of self. They worried about how others saw them and took special efforts to distance themselves from the negative stereotypes by not appearing too Asian." The study also found that, "in attempting to gain acceptance among whites, some Asian American students avoided and expressed disgust toward coethnics, to whom they applied the negative stereotypes." A 2000 study found that, due to racially derogatory images of Asians in the mainstream, "Asian Americans learned at a young age that fitting into the larger dominant white society means disassociating from co-ethnics possessing undesirable qualities."

A 2001 study of third-generation-plus Chinese and Japanese Americans found that respondents "developed various strategies to cope with their own identities in reaction to their racialization as 'perpetual foreigners' and 'model minorities.' These strategies include self-mockery or diversion from one's Asianness and disassociation from other Asians." These behaviors are performed "in an effort to 'get on the good side of their white peers' and to appear less threatening." A 2003 study of second-generation Korean and Vietnamese Americans stated: "Whether they are first or later generation Americans, Asian Americans can face distrust, hostility, and derision for their assumed disloyalty and lack of assimilation to the white mainstream." The study found that respondents internalized these sentiments and "genuinely felt a sense of shame, embarrassment, disgust, and discomfort toward those" to whom they referred as "FOBs" (short for "fresh off the boat"). A significant segment of respondents identified themselves as "whitewashed" or as people who are "ashamed of their race and ethnicity" and "try to fit into Euro-American culture in order to appear 'cool' and improve their social status," with one respondent stating, "I'm not saying that Koreans are bad but it seems that to be white is to be the best."

A 2018 study of first- and second-generation Asian Americans found that "respondents displayed (and reproduced) IRO [internalized racial oppression] as a reactionary response ... to their experiences with stigma and discrimination for being Asian. Furthermore, for many respondents, experiencing racism went hand in hand with possessing the desire for whiteness. ... Their statements of desiring blonde hair and blue eyes or not viewing 'whitewashed' as problematic, along with any association with 'Asian' as foreign and undesirable, reflects their socialization to view whites as normative and the default Americans. In their young eyes, to be white was to be a 'normal American.

China

It's popular among Chinese dissidents and critics of the Chinese government to engage in internalized racism, such as celebrating Japanese atrocities committed during World War II, promoting the usage of pejorative slurs (such as shina or locust), or displaying hatred toward Chinese language, people, and culture. The "self-hating" racism is intended to subvert patriotism message of the Chinese government. In 2021, to combat discrimination caused by xenophobia, localism and political dissent, Equal Opportunities Commission of Hong Kong planned to legislate against "chauvinism", "internalized racism", and "intra-racial discrimination" between Hong Kong and mainland Chinese people.

The case of China is of interest because some have argued that racism and race itself do not exist in China. Dutch Historian Frank Dikötter argued the 1988 Nanjing anti-African protests show that race is recognized in China. The context of race and racism in China is heavily affected by the fact that the large majority of the country is identified as Han Chinese (90.56% of the reported population in 2005). 55 minority ethnic groups are recognized by the government, giving the government the power to dictate different groups as legitimate (and therefore eligible for less taxes, more subsidies and less restrictions) or illegitimate. One author argued that the policing of rural migrant workers in some cities was affected by their status as recognized or unrecognized minority groups.

Brazil

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/Brazilians_001.JPG" caption="Brazilians of different ethnicities from the end of the 19th century to the very beginning of the 20th century"] ::

Because Brazilians have many different ethnic origins, race in Brazil is often conceptualized as a racial democracy: a system that involves so much interracial marriage and interaction that systemic racism is not a national problem. However, many scholars actually contest this definition, referring to this idea as "the myth of racial democracy", because prejudice and discrimination based on race is still prevalent. Nonetheless, it is important to note that race, as a social construct, has a unique conceptualization in Brazil. As opposed to the "one-drop" rule employed in the US (i.e. "one-drop" of black blood constitutes a person's blackness), Brazilians recognize a spectrum of race and color-based identities.

The first major instance of internalized racism in Brazil comes out of this spectrum. A 1976 national survey found that there were over 100 colloquial terms in use to describe race-related phenotypes. Examples of these terms include "black (preto, negro), white (branco), brown or mixed (moreno, mulato), dark (escuro), light (claro), closed (fechado), freckled (sarard), and others." The use of various terms for color and race often serves as evidence of the following notions, among others: whiteness is beauty, whiteness is clean, whiteness is successful and blackness is dirty. Anthropologist Elizabeth Hordge-Freeman found this especially apparent when working with and around pregnant women in a poor and working-class neighborhood in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. Women expressed a clear desire and preferential treatment for children that were "whiter" in appearance, even engaging in practices of pinching an infant's nose to try to make it smaller. Many of the women she worked with were racially black, or mixed race.

Additionally, race in Brazil is not confined to physical indicators. Individuals who are black can gain higher economic status and gain recognition as "white" or "whitened" by both black and white Brazilians alike. This conflates economic success with whiteness and poverty with blackness, as well as incentivizing the idea of "whitening", whether through "money whiteness" or interracial mixture. This furthers the incidence of internalized racism by getting Brazilians of all race to have largely positive associations with whiteness and largely negative associations with blackness.

Zimbabwe and Eswatini

In a study designed to compare the incidence of internalized racism in a country that underwent direct European colonization (Zimbabwe) and a country that has maintained its pre-colonial monarchy to date (Eswatini), social science researchers investigated the role of historical context and education in internalized racism. A major motivating factor for this study was the fact that internalized racism has largely gone unstudied in the African continent. The study found that, despite the scholars' hypothesis that Zimbabwe would have more internalized racism, there was no significant difference in internalized racism incidence between the countries. They believe that this is due to the widespread nature of racism systems, which still came into contact with Eswatini through trade relations. They also found increased education had a significant negative correlation with internalized racism.

Implications

This section discusses the implications of internalized racism, and why the topic is significant. Examples of psychological harm related to internalized racism are not given in attempt to describe internalized racism as product of the psyche of the oppressed. Internalized racism is not defined as a weakness in the minds of the oppressed.

Health

High scores on internalized racism have been repeatedly correlated with a variety of poor psychological and physical health outcomes among sample populations including African Americans, US-Born Caribbean Blacks, foreign-born Caribbean Blacks, Filipino Americans, non-American Pacific Islanders and multiracial samples of Americans.

A study conducted by researchers Mouzon and McLean found that there is a positive correlation between internalized racism in black individuals and the state of their mental health, specifically depression and psychological distress. The results showed that African-Americans and US-born Caribbean Blacks embodied more internal racism, and thus experienced poorer mental health than foreign born Caribbean Blacks. A similar study by researchers Graham and West discovered that anxiety is also correlational to internalized racism in black individuals. This conclusion is significant considering that, "anxiety disorders have been found to be more persistent in Black American populations as compared to other racial groups." The same study goes on to describe the methods therapists can take to mitigate the anxiety in black individuals caused by internalized racism, such as rationalizing negative thoughts.

Asian Americans are also subject to internalized racism, and the Internalized Racism in Asian Americans Scale (IRAAS) was created by researchers to determine the extent in which Asian Americans accepted the negative stereotypes about themselves. This results revealed that there is a correlation between mental health and the degree in which Asian Americans subscribe to the adverse racial stereotypes. These effects include lower self esteem, symptoms of depression, and general psychological distress.

For more examples of studies that show significant relations of internalized racism to increased incidence of anxiety and depression, low individual and collective self-esteem, low sense of ethnic identity, lower levels of life satisfaction, higher body fat measures and other measures of psychological distress. These studies imply that internalized racism subjects the racially oppressed to a wide range of adverse mental and physical health outcomes.

Contributing to systemic racism

In her book, What Does It Mean to Be White? Developing White Racial Literacy, Robin DiAngelo describes the cycle of racism as a feedback loop that uses power, control, and economics to go from (1) systematic mistreatment of a group to creation of misinformation to, (2) societal acceptance of misinformation to, (3) internalized oppression and internalized dominance to, (4) racism perpetuated and enforced by institutions, leading to, (5) justification for further mistreatment. In other words, internalized racism is involved in reinforcing racism, and ensuring that it continues. It creates a justification for continued mistreatment of the racially subjugated. Additionally, it can create an acceptance of the status quo, leading some to conclude that racism is not an issue that needs to be addressed. If members of racially oppressed groups internalize the validity of their own oppression, they have no reason to contest the system. Internalized racism can also be seen as a means of "dividing and conquering" racially subordinate groups to create conflicts between them and suppress united efforts to contest racism.

Responses

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/90/KAS-Black_is_beautiful-Bild-5479-2.jpg" caption="The People's Institute for Survival and Beyond]] in New Orleans, suggests a six-point approach for those who experience internalized racism:"] ::

Analyze internalized racial oppression in its historical and cultural context
Recognize negative messages, and have programs to undo/unlearn them
Learn about how internalized racial superiority spreads among the racially dominant
Organize with members of other racially oppressed groups
Celebrate community and culture
Support community organizing and leadership development

David W. Concepción notes that because confronting internalized oppression often creates a paradox for people having to see themselves as both a victim and perpetrator of that oppression, a major factor in addressing internalized oppression is being able to confront false narratives while at the same time employing self-forgiveness.

Marc Weinblatt and Cheryl Harrison emphasize that one must acknowledge that race is a social category with real implications while at the same time reject the falsehoods behind racist attitudes. Because finding this balance can be difficult, it is often helpful to have separate spaces for those who experience internalized oppression and those who experience internalized privilege. Additionally, Weinblatt makes it clear that there is a need for those with privilege to risk it in order to seek the end of racism.

An example of a movement that considers some of the above considerations is the "Black is Beautiful" movement. These efforts began during the Black Power movement in the 1960s in the United States. In order to contest the narratives that blackness was something ugly, inferior and less valuable, members of the Black community began fighting back with advertising and other media campaigns. The idea behind the movement has persisted to the present day, with social media based movements such as "Black Girl Magic" and "Black Boy Joy" that aim to celebrate blackness.

Potential healing for African Americans

Dr. Watts-Jones indicates in her study that there is a possible method in which African Americans can overcome their internalized racism. By finding sanctuary within the African American community, members are able to achieve mental and physical security from their racist environment. Watts-Jones states that the collective experience of pain in African Americans work in tandem to heal together. However, the process of healing can be extended outside the African American community, by allowing other racial groups to perceive African Americans' internalized racism as well. In doing so, White people can be utilized as an ally rather than another force of oppression.

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