ABSTRACT
The modernity of racial classification and racial thinking, and racism itself, involves ongoing debate among scholars whose arguments are addressed in this chapter. The chapter discusses the historical emergence of racism as a global phenomenon, spreading out from Europe, and shaped and inspired by modern forms of thinking, including race categorisation and racial hierarchy, by capitalism (or racial capitalism), imperialism, colonialism and slavery, and the ideology and practices of white supremacy. The relationship between modernity, Enlightenment thinking, race and racism are central themes discussed. The final section of the chapter focuses on challenging questions (for example from postcolonial and other radical black tradition scholars) about the broad connections between modernity, Enlightenment and racism.
