ABSTRACT
Different perceptions among blacks and whites in our society about what racism is, and where it is, constitute an important source of racial tension. For many white Americans today the word "racism" is a red flag. In general, white people today use the word "racism" to refer to the explicit, conscious belief in racial superiority. For the most part, black people mean something different by racism: they mean a set of practices and institutions that results in injustice to, and inequality for, black people. Racism as overt or out-and-out racism reflects a powerful strain in our attitudes toward moral responsibility. Most people would agree that we ought to admit people to jobs or schools on the basis of ability and talent, past or potential performance. A society or an institution is racist if it discriminates on grounds of race, either "primarily" or "secondarily", or if it perpetuates inequalities produced by primary or secondary racism.
