by Halford H. Fairchild

About the author: Halford H. Fairchild is a professor of psychology and black studies at Pitzer College in Claremont, California.

There are those who assert that racism is obsolete and not a contemporary problem. But racism is a current event; only its expression is more disguised and subtle. And it requires intervention.

We can best understand the contemporary reality of racism by delving into its past. In antiquity, knowledge of racial differentiation was not necessarily accompanied by dehumanizing sentiments; indeed, the ancient Greeks and Romans looked upon the ancient Ethiopians with respect and romanticism. The ancient Egyptians’ awareness of racial variation did not carry with it the dehumanization of those who were superficially different.

The Development of Racism

The idea of race took on the patina of a scientific enterprise primarily in the early to mid-...