Racism

Prejudice, discrimination or hostility directed at people because of their race or ethnicity.

Prejudice or discrimination based on race, including the belief that racial groups have fixed characteristics or can be ranked as superior and inferior.

Nevertheless, Small’s loyalty is not the same as freedom from racism. In Chapter 12, he complains of being bullied by “every cursed black-faced policeman who loved to take it out of a white man”. He frames his mistreatment through a racial opposition, stressing his own whiteness and the guards’ skin colour.

Part (b): Treat Sam’s claim that he did not mean Meena as evidence of his contradictory thinking, not proof that his racism is harmless.

Part (b): distinguish understanding a character’s circumstances from excusing their racism. Support your judgement with precise textual references.

Part (a): Use the extracts and their introductions to discuss relevant social and cultural situations: parental authority, financial pressure, racism or generational differences. Keep context tied to the detail you analyse.

Racism is not only something practised by openly aggressive strangers: it can appear in everyday assumptions and among people she knows. Nevertheless, the adults also recognise kindness in Britain. Syal does not present every English person as sharing the same attitudes.

Unjust treatment based on race or ethnicity.

Prejudice or discrimination directed at people because of their race or ethnicity.

Prejudiced beliefs or discriminatory treatment based on someone’s perceived race or ethnic background.

This is evidence of internalised racism: other people’s racist assumptions begin to shape his understanding of himself. It is not his only insecurity — he also considers his age — and it does not make his later violence inevitable. Shakespeare shows Iago exploiting several vulnerabilities while Othello increasingly chooses to trust him.

Definition

How each exam board covers it

AQA GCSE English Literature · 8702

OCR GCSE English Literature · J352

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Eduqas GCSE English Literature · C720