The word «racism» was first recorded by Larousse’s French dictionary in 1932 and was interpreted as «a system that affirms the superiority of one racial group over others.»
Big Law Dictionary, ed. A. Ya. Sukharev and V. E. Krutskikh gives two definitions:
- Racism: one of the international offenses. Racism and racial discrimination include racist ideologies, racially biased attitudes, discriminatory behavior, structural organization and institutionalized practices leading to racial inequality, and the idea that such relationships between groups are morally and scientifically justified; manifest themselves in discriminatory legislation and practice.
- Racism is a theory that attributes superiority or inferiority to certain racial or ethnic groups, justifying the right of some people to dominate or reject others. The implementation of racist theories in practice is expressed in the policy of racial discrimination, that is, any distinction (exclusion, restriction or preference) based on the characteristics of race, skin color, tribal, national or ethnic origin, violating human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social , cultural and other areas of public life. The 1966 International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination made racism and racial discrimination a crime.
The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination defines racial discrimination as any distinction, exclusion, limitation or preference based on grounds of race, colour, descent, national or ethnic origin, with the aim or effect of eliminating or impairing the recognition, use or exercise of equal principles of human rights and fundamental freedoms in political, economic, social, cultural or any other areas of public life.
In Western countries, racism is regarded as a crime and prosecuted by law, and such persecution is not considered political repression.
«Scientific racism»
It is a known fact that among people of different races, different abilities are expressed to varying degrees: in particular, the Negroid race gave the world the best athletes and boxers, while there are more scientists among Europeans. There are different points of view about the connection of the abilities of people of different racial and national groups with cultural or biological factors. However, research that expresses a point of view about the biological inequality of the abilities of people of different races has been de facto taboo since the end of World War II and equated with racism.