Racism: What It Is and How to Deal with It - Uned

A Guide to Talking about Racism | 10
Structure
The Guide is articulated around several questions that we consider key issues for
understanding and dealing with racism as a social phenomenon. It has a five-module
structure that attempts to respond to these issues, but, above all, these modules
attempt to encourage processes of analysis, reflection, and action in the people who
make use of the Guide, so that they will pursue their own questions and answers.
The Guide was conceptualized as a global document in which each module focuses
on one of the key issues, but with its content closely related to that of the other
modules, as well as to the glossary.
Module 1 - What is racism? This being a fundamental theme, the module tries to
define what we refer to when we talk about racism. After an itinerary that appeals to
personal perceptions and experiences of racism, a definition is proposed. In addition,
a series of concepts and mechanisms related to racism is presented; these concepts
and mechanisms help to understand racism and also orient the development of the
rest of the modules in the Guide.
Module 2 - Racism: Why and what for? This module takes on the complexity of
racism, with an analysis that emphasizes both the causes and the beneficial
consequences that racist behavior has for the people or groups who practice it. Social
classification, hierarchy, power and privilege are the ideas around which a series of
reasons is articulated to help explain the reasons and purposes of racist behavior and
its justification.
Module 3 - How is it produced? Starting from the concept of racism as a social
phenomenon, this module analyzes and invites the reader to join in the analysis of the
manifestations of racism from two perspectives: the perspective of the factors
(personal and social) that favor its appearance, and the perspective of the forms and
characteristics of its expressions in different contexts.
Module 4 - How is it reproduced? This module shows and analyzes the
mechanisms that serve to perpetuate racism in society, mechanisms such as the
communications media or textbooks. It also highlights the importance of becoming
aware of how this transmission of racism works in daily life.
Module 5 - How can we deal with racism? Recalling the ideas that have come up in
the previous modules, this one considers dealing with racism through three
processes: awareness, reflection, and action. The idea that it is necessary to act, to
become involved in changing the state of things that makes racism possible, is
emphasized.