Let's Be Clear: What Racism Actually Is

Why distinguishing between insensitivity, ignorance, systems, and hate matters now more than ever.

To be frank, the subject of racism often bores me. Not because it’s unimportant, but because the public conversation around it has become repetitive, confused, and strangely shallow. I’ve always had a clear sense of what racism entails — not just on a physical or material level, but on a spiritual one.

Modern Western society treats racism as one of its cardinal sins. The civil rights movement, the Holocaust, and apartheid stand as monumental examples of how racism violates human dignity. And yet, in 2025, we are more confused than ever. Despite relentless education campaigns and calls for awareness, conversations continue to break down. Something has clearly gone wrong.

I believe the root of this confusion lies in the plural nature of the modern West. We no longer share a common worldview — and as a result, we don’t agree on what racism actually is, what it means, or how it works. That deeper metaphysical divergence is probably an essay for another day.

In this piece, I want to offer a clearer view: What is racism, really? And how might a traditional Christian perspective help us understand its nature — not just socially, but morally and spiritually?

To bring clarity, I want to highlight four distinct categories that often get lumped under the term racism — and in doing so, worsen our ability to navigate sensitive conversations. These categories are: racial insensitivity, racial ignorance, systemic bias, and racial hostility.

1) Racial Insensitivity

This is often unintentional, but it can still wound. It tends to show up in clumsy comments, inappropriate jokes, or instances of cultural appropriation. A recent example is the online use of the term “Yookay.”

I’ve noticed that anyone non-white with a Multicultural London English (MLE) accent is increasingly being tagged with this label — a term used to mock the cultural fragmentation of Britain. While it may be intended as satire or humour, it reinforces the stereotype that certain Britons aren’t the “right kind” of British — simply because of their voice, skin colour, or ethnic heritage.

This kind of insensitivity is best addressed through education and humility, not always through public shaming (though there are cases where confrontation may be appropriate).

2) Racial Ignorance

This category is typically the result of isolation, poor education, or a lack of cross-cultural exposure. There’s no ill-will here — just mistaken assumptions. It differs from insensitivity in that there’s no real awareness that anything offensive is happening. The intent is often benign, even if the outcome is problematic.

A common example is the phrase: “I don’t see colour.” It’s usually meant as a statement of equality. But to many, it feels like a denial of lived reality — especially for those whose life experiences have been deeply shaped by race and racialisation.

From a Christian perspective, intention matters. Moral agency requires both knowledge and intent. That’s why these scenarios call for grace and challenge — not condemnation, but a loving correction that honours both truth and relationship.

3) Systemic Bias

Systemic bias concerns structures and outcomes. It’s perhaps the most frequently discussed form of racism in the past decade — especially in the vocabulary of what’s often called “woke” discourse.

This form of bias isn’t about individual intent. It’s about participating in institutions that perpetuate exclusion — whether in housing, education, healthcare, or the justice system — often as a result of historical policies or embedded norms. These disparities persist even when no one person is consciously prejudiced.

That said, systemic bias requires careful nuance, especially in Britain, where racial segregation was never legally codified as it was in the United States or South Africa. Here, racism is more often implicit than overt.

For example, legacy media in Britain is largely staffed by people from similar social and educational backgrounds — typically elite, secular, liberal, and metropolitan. If your storytelling style, moral imagination, or cultural references don’t match theirs, you may be seen as “not quite right,” even if your work is excellent. This tends to affect ethnic minority voices most — especially those who don’t reflect the assumptions of the cultural establishment.

Systemic bias, then, often works quietly — not through obvious exclusion, but through informal codes of taste, tone, and trust.

4) Racial Hostility (Actual Racism)

This is the moral core of racism: when the dignity of another human being is deliberately diminished on the basis of their skin colour or ethnic identity. It occurs when a group is treated as inferior, threatening, or unwelcome — not because of behaviour, but because of their being.

Racial hostility isn’t always loud or violent. In fact, it’s often calm and logical. But at its heart is the same spiritual disorder: unhealthy pride, fear, and dehumanisation. It reduces a person to a type — a symbol of something detestable, dangerous, or lesser.

I still see it frequently online, often in the form of dehumanising language. Essentialist takes on race have resurfaced: white people are framed as inherently oppressive; black people as inherently criminal or uncivilised. These are not just offensive stereotypes — they are moral falsehoods that tie social behaviour to biology rather than to formation, culture, or circumstance.

From a Christian lens, this is sin — a failure to see the other as made in the image of God. Racism, at its core, is not merely a political problem. It’s a spiritual wound.

These distinctions matter because clarity matters — especially when it comes to something as morally serious as racism.

Over the past few years, I’ve noticed a strange inversion: racial ignorance is often treated with malice, while actual racial hostility goes unchecked. Just look at the rise in antisemitism on our streets — bold, open hatred, often met with silence. At the same time, the term racism has become so overused, so casually applied, that it has begun to lose its moral weight. We are now a society suffering from race fatigue — not because racism has disappeared, but because our discourse has become so muddled.

This confusion couldn’t have come at a worse time. Racial hostility is quietly returning to mainstream politics — often cloaked in logic, framed as “just asking questions,” or disguised as cultural concern. But because we’ve blurred the lines between ignorance, insensitivity, systemic issues, and real hostility, we’ve lost the tools to respond with precision and integrity.

Let me be clear: I’m not saying that only racial hostility deserves attention. The other forms — insensitivity, ignorance, and systemic bias — are serious and should be addressed. But they require different moral responses. And not every misstep should be met with the charge of racism. That’s where a Christian framework becomes helpful. Grace demands truth. We cannot rush to condemnation without first seeking to understand what lies beneath the action or the system.

A society that ignores intention risks committing injustice in the name of justice. We need moral discernment — not just outrage.

Whether or not you are a Christian, I suspect you still care about fairness, integrity, and compassion. These are not niche religious values; they are essential to any meaningful pursuit of racial reconciliation. The question is: will we have the clarity and courage to pursue them?