Does labelling racism as bullying perpetuate a colour-blind approach?

While bullying involves repeated aggressive behaviour with a power imbalance, racism encompasses prejudice, discrimination and unequal treatment based on race, ethnicity, language and culture. Unlike bullying, racism is deeply rooted in societal systems, privileging certain racial groups within a hierarchy. It is important to differentiate these types of harm as they require significantly different understandings and responses (Prosser, 2020).

Forms of racism

Racism is deeply rooted in societal systems, perpetuating prejudice and discrimination based on an individual’s race or ethnicity. It can manifest in various forms, such as:

• racial slurs
• microaggressions
• stereotypes
• unequal treatment; or
• institutional policies that perpetuate systemic advantages or disadvantages for different racial groups.

Racism operates at both interpersonal and institutional levels, shaping individuals’ experiences and opportunities from birth (Yared and Joshi, 2023).

Racism and bullying differ in their scope, targets, power dynamics and systemic nature. The essence of racism lies in the perpetuation of a racial hierarchy that places whiteness in a privileged position. Institutional power imbalances sustain racism, granting privileges to those at the top of the hierarchy while withholding them from racially marginalised groups (Becares & Priest, 2015; NCCDH, 2022; Yared et al., 2020). Dr Priest describes both the perpetuation and the impact of racism as ‘like smog in the air’ which ‘we absorb … from birth’ (Priest et al., 2013). This includes the dominant cultural group (Anglo-Saxon Australians), who may be conditioned to contribute to the perpetuation of cultural norms that marginalise certain racial groups.

Overt racism

Overt racism involves explicit and conscious bias, where individuals intentionally discriminate against others based on race, gender, religion, or other identifiable cultural attributes. It includes acts, statements or behaviours that are explicit and openly prejudiced and discriminatory, making it easy to identify.

This form of racism is typically rooted in deeply held beliefs, stereotypes, or personal attitudes, and involves conscious choices to favour or discriminate against certain groups. It is often motivated by prejudice and a desire to maintain power and privilege.

Overt racism can occur in various aspects of life, such as the workplace, education, healthcare, and social interactions, leading to unfair treatment and discrimination.

Systemic racism

Systemic racism is linked to overt racism through policies and practices that perpetuate disparities in education, employment, healthcare, and housing. It results in ongoing social inequalities and encompasses behaviours, policies and systems that lead to disparities in life outcomes based on race or ethnicity.

This type of bias may not always be as visible as overt racism, but it has a profound impact on people’s quality of life and wellbeing. Institutional racism is particularly challenging to recognise and combat and is perpetuated by organisations and governments that do not see themselves as racist (Elias & Paradies, 2021) and, it often reflects the cultural assumptions of the dominant group, marginalising and othering non-white/Anglo-Saxon communities (Elias et al., 2021).

When whiteness is seen as the norm, it offers automatic racial privilege and entitlements to certain groups. For example, in her seminal essay, White privilege: Unpacking the invisible knapsack, Peggy McIntosh (1969) articulates white privilege through statements that highlight the often-taken-for-granted and significant benefits for those identified as ‘white’. McIntosh shows how, in doing so, racial discrimination is perpetuated against groups not considered white.

Covert racism

Covert racism, also known as hidden or subtle racism, refers to racial bias and discrimination that is not obvious or easily recognisable. These subtle, less explicit forms of prejudice and discrimination are more challenging to identify and therefore confront.

Covert racism may be expressed through attitudes, behaviours and institutional practices that perpetuate racial inequality but are not as obvious as more overt forms of racism (Elias et al 2021). Examples include the higher likelihood of racial profiling and harsher sentencing for certain racial groups, as well as unequal access to legal representation. These systemic issues contribute to a cycle of disadvantage for certain racial communities, highlighting how institutional structures can perpetuate discriminatory practices.

Microaggressions

Racial microaggressions are subtle and common acts of discrimination that can be perpetuated through unconscious bias or thoughtlessness. They convey derogatory, stereotypical or negative biases based on ethnicity.

Perpetrators of microaggressions may not realise they are engaging in such behaviours. These actions or comments can be brief and seemingly harmless, but they can have a harmful and cumulative impact on children’s wellbeing and self-esteem.

Microaggressions are a form of covert or subtle discrimination, and they are typically rooted in deeply ingrained societal prejudices. Microaggressions can easily go unnoticed by those who do not experience them, making it challenging for a child (or parent) to explain or report these incidents (Sue et al., 2007; Prosser, 2020).

Download PDF of examples of microaggressions

Unconscious cultural bias

Unconscious bias (also known as implicit bias) encompasses underlying, automatic and unintentional attitudes, beliefs and stereotypes that all people unknowingly hold toward different cultures or social groups. This type of bias perpetuates racism more broadly, manifesting in everyday interactions for children.

In practice, unconscious cultural bias might look like:

• assuming a child’s parents don’t speak English
• asking a child where they are from; or
• saying to a child, ‘Why are you so quiet? We want to know what you think. You need to speak up more.’

These experiences are accumulative and although they often go unnoticed by the practitioner, they can significantly affect children’s identity development, with profound and intrusive consequences (Tsipursky & McRaney, 2020).

The process of socialisation reinforces unconscious cultural stereotypes and biases among children, significantly impacting how they see themselves and others, and their overall social and emotional development. These underlying assumptions and judgements also shape children’s interactions with their peers, often leading to exclusion or misunderstandings directed at children from various cultural backgrounds (Sharma and Prakash, 2022).

The Emerging Minds online course, Understanding children’s mental health in culturally diverse communities, explores unconscious cultural bias in practitioners and its implications for healthcare services. This includes how allocation of resources and opportunities for children based on their cultural heritage results in disparities in education, healthcare and extracurricular activities (Elias & Paradies, 2021).