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I believe that being racist means that you believe your own race to be superior to other races? What would be the antonym for racist?

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    Multicultural, tolerant, unprejudiced and even simply non-racist.
    – Eilia
    Commented Jun 9, 2015 at 5:57
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    Also, I think this could provide some idea about someone who thinks himself inferior than others: Inferiority complex.
    – Eilia
    Commented Jun 9, 2015 at 6:03
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    I would suggest the term racist covers them too. They are caught up in the ridiculous idea that race ultimately has, or should have, any significance in the ordering of society.
    – WS2
    Commented Jun 9, 2015 at 7:36
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    The title is at odds with the question and does not ask for an antonym. Any view which assumes a particular race to be inferior is racist, even if that assumption is made by someone of that very race. (Whoops, WS2 beat me to it while i was composing).
    – Margana
    Commented Jun 9, 2015 at 7:38
  • The most common term in use is a self-hating racist. That also works for most other -ists Commented Jun 9, 2015 at 7:56

2 Answers 2

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Internalized Racism (U.S. Spelling)


A form of self-loathing, based on the cognitive and emotional acceptance by individuals of an oppressed group of all, or some aspects, of the negative stereotypes.

[Sources]: Oxford Reference; Wiki

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There is no reason why "racist" cannot apply to someone whose prejudices are directed at their own "race" rather than another. In fact, the OED definition of "racism" inclines this way:

...a person whose words or actions display prejudice or discrimination on the grounds of race.... Also in extended use: a person who is prejudiced against people of other nationalities.

(Emphasis added.) This inverts the priority as seen in OxfordDictionaries.com:

A person who shows or feels discrimination or prejudice against people of other races, or who believes that a particular race is superior to another...

Here the autoracist (neologism alert) is the second case, rather than the first.

Basically, a racist is a racist no matter whether the despised race is one's own or that of another.

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  • The more usual current sense is given first by most dictionaries (although they sometimes disagree in their rankings); OED, being a historical dictionary (of English), lists senses in the order it believes them to have arisen. Commented Jun 9, 2015 at 9:16

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