The place of racism in the study of discrimination

What is the experience of racism of migrants and their descendants? Persons from sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa and the French overseas departements are very frequently the targets of “explicitly racist remarks and behaviours”, while those from Southeast Asia, Turkey or Europe much less so. Being born in France to a parent from one of these countries and having French nationality does not reduce this experience of racism. On the contrary, racism is reiterated and expressed in school and in public places, but also at work and in dealings with public services. It is compounded by experience of exclusion and discrimination. Conversely, persons from the mainstream population are rarely exposed to this type of situation and never report discrimination. Their experience of remarks perceived as racist is most often limited to public places or school. Racism targeting migrants and their descendants categorizes them into minority groups (in the sense of discriminated minorities), while racist remarks targeting the mainstream population have no material impact upon them