FOUR
MELISSA
REALMS
WOO
OF
&
RACISM
MELANIE
AND
MORRISON
CHANGE
PACIFIC NORTHWEST CONFERENCE
ANNUAL MEETING
APRIL 25, 2009

THE FOUR REALMS:
1)Personal
2)Interpersonal
3)Institutional
4)Cultural

1. PERSONAL
Values, beliefs, attitudes, and feelings
•
Can be expressed in the fear of
•
difference, prejudice, and stereotyping.
Example: the belief that Euro-American
•
culture and traditions are inherently
superior

EXAMPLES OF PERSONAL RACISM
White teachers frequently have lower expectations for students
of color

CULTURAL APPROPRIATION

2. INTERPERSONAL
Acting on fears, prejudices, and
•
stereotypes.
This can be conscious or unconscious
•
behaviors, such as discrimination,
condescension, verbal abuse, or
physical violence.

ERNANDO VERGARA / Associated Press
Relatives of Jose Sucuzhañay carry his coffin draped
with Ecuador's flag during his funeral in Cuenca,
Ecuador, last month. The real estate broker, 31, was
beaten to death in Brooklyn. An FBI report details a
surge in anti-Latino violence since 2003.
Anti-Latino hate crimes on the rise

“50 SHOTS INDICT THE COPS” JUSTICE FOR SEAN BELL

1930 2007
LYNCHING & NOOSES: Then vs. Now

3. INSTITUTIONAL
Racism that is “institutionalized” into
•
policy, procedure, practices, or rules
Can be informal or formal
•
Can be intentional or unintentional
•

Although African
Americans account for
only 12% of the
population, 44% of all
prisoners in the U.S. are
African American. In
2002, the average
prison term of African
Americans was 69%
longer than the term for
whites convicted of the
same offense.
THE PRISON INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX

NATIVE AMERICAN HEALTH CARE CRISIS
Helen Sage, 89, takes a break from an exercise class Tuesday at the Pearl
Warren Building in Seattle. The class is offered free through the Seattle
Indian Health Board. Tribes are taking steps to improve members’ health.
http://www.seattlepi.com/local/403196_tribes12.html

AFTERMATH OF HURRICANE KATRINA

4. CULTURAL
What is valued as right, true, beautiful,
•
normal and worthy of our time and
attention.
Affect what we understand to be normal
•
or appropriate styles of behavior,
expression, and thought.

Examples of CULTURAL RACISM

ASIAN “DOUBLE EYE-LID” SURGERY
What is valued as “beautiful”? What does one have to
undergo in order to obtain this beauty?

SKIN BLEACHING/LIGHTENING

FOUR THANK
REALMS YOU!
OF
RACISM SACRED CONVERSATIONS
AND ON RACE
HTTP://WWW.UCC.ORG/SACRED-
CHANGE CONVERSATION/SACRED-
CONVERSATION-RESOURCES.HTML