Table 1 Defining key concepts

Race

• Races are socially constructed categories that are not biologically defined but were designed and continue to produce advantages for some and disadvantages for others [28].

• Race is an organizing doctrine that dictates the social relationships that people have with one another [31].

• Race reshapes a person’s identity at an individual (micro) level in relation to white individuals and their social and geographical positioning which forms the rest of interpersonal life at a larger (macro) level scale [31].

Racism

• Racism, also termed racial ideology, provides the basis for disparities among various races on economic, social, and political bases [28].

• Racism depends on racialization and provides the instructions and justification on how individuals operate within systems and institutions according to racial categories [31].

• Racism towards people of colour eventually becomes normal, “common sense” [31], and serves a purpose. How racism operates in the world mirrors the ways in which systems and institutions function [31].

Racialization

• Racialized social systems create hierarchical interpersonal relationships between races such as white individuals and people of color [28].

• Racialization, which includes racialized social systems and social organizations, is a process that governs the assignment of differential benefits on an economic, social, and political basis according to socially defined categories of identity such as white and Black [28].

• Racialized social systems remain constant through ‘colour blind’ ideologies that ignore racism and instead open up discussions about disparities on other bases, such as classism [32].