Word.ws English Dictionary

racism of low expectations

racism of low expectations noun: a form of racial discrimination where certain racial groups are held to lower standards because of an implicit belief that they are less capable.

Noun

racism of low expectations (uncountable)

  1. A form of racial discrimination where certain racial groups are held to lower standards because of an implicit belief that they are less capable.
    • The West tends to respond to the social failures of Muslim immigrants with what can be called the racism of low expectations. This Western attitude is based on the idea that people of color must be exempted from “normal” standards of behavior.2010, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Nomad: A Personal Journey Through the Clash of Civilizations
    • The presence of just one positive, supportive teacher who pays attention, has high expectations and nurtures a child can have a remarkable impact, even amid the routine racism of low expectations and heightened surveillance faced by Black children in contemporary schools and society.2014, Nicola Rollock, David Gillborn, Carol Vincent, The Colour of Class

Origin of racism of low expectations

Blend of racism + soft bigotry of low expectations.

Questions about racism of low expectations

What does racism of low expectations mean?
Racism of low expectations means a form of racial discrimination where certain racial groups are held to lower standards because of an implicit belief that they are less capable.
What part of speech is racism of low expectations?
Racism of low expectations is a noun.

Words near racism of low expectations in the dictionary

  1. raciologies
  2. raciologist
  3. raciologists
  4. raciology
  5. racism
  6. racism of low expectations
  7. racisms
  8. racist
  9. racistic
  10. racistically
  11. racistly

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: racism of low expectations (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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