**3. Racism**

There are various definitions of racism and much debate in public discourse; therefore, it is critical that we define and describe the concept of racism adopted in this paper. We adopt Dovidio, Gaertner, and Kawakami's (2010) definition of racism, defined as "an organized system of privilege and bias that systematically disadvantages a group of people perceived to belong to a specific race [13] (p. 312)". Dovidio et al. also adhere to the sociological definition of racism as "prejudice plus power". In other words, for an event to be racist as opposed to simply prejudiced, it must further disadvantage an already marginalized racial group within a specific social context [13] (p. 316). Dovidio et al. characterize racism into three categories: (i) cultural, (ii) institutional, and (iii) individual. Each of these is described further below.

Cultural racism occurs when a racially dominant group defines cultural values for all [13]. One example of this is the declaration of Christmas day as a statutory holiday in Canada, the US, Australia, New Zealand, and European countries, with almost universal time off work and school to observe the tradition. While Christmas is celebrated by many racial groups in these countries, it is historically a "white" holiday with European roots; the adoption of Christmas by racialized minorities is directly linked to colonialism [14]. Moreover, the aforementioned countries identify as multi-cultural mosaic societies, with many racialized minority communities celebrating religious and cultural holidays other than Christmas, which are not generally recognized as statutory holidays. Recognizing Christmas as a statutory holiday whilst not recognizing other, commonly observed holidays as statutory holidays serves to establish Christmas as a norm, while "othering" holidays

such as Eid al Fitr, Diwali, and Kwanzaa [15]. The treatment of Roma communities in Europe is also reflective of cultural racism [16–18]. For example, widespread hostility toward Roma throughout European countries is often rooted in a feeling of threat toward the lifestyles and traditions of host countries. Roma culture, particularly the aspects of transience and separateness, is often perceived as incompatible with host countries. State policy and practice often promote the complete assimilation of the Roma people, thus the complete erasure of Roma culture. The Roma are seen as a threat to the host society, which creates a climate of hostility toward the Roma and allows for the social mistreatment and deprivation of Roma communities [17].

Institutional racism occurs when institutional practices have a disproportionately negative impact on racialized minorities. A practice or policy does not have to be explicitly or intentionally targeted toward racialized minorities to be termed institutional. When such practices and policies are routinely applied with impunity, they gain institutional power. The intentions of perpetrators have little to no bearing on the grievous harms inflicted by racism on its victims [13]. The Canadian practice of traffic police documenting and forwarding personal information on people of interest to detectives, colloquially known as "carding," is an example of institutional racism. Carding policies do not explicitly compel police officers to disproportionately target black, Indigenous, and people of colour (BIPOC). Nonetheless, in Toronto, Canada, BIPOC individuals are carded at a higher rate than non-BIPOC, resulting in a disproportionate rate of police violence and overrepresentation of BIPOC people in the Canadian correctional system [19]. (Henry and Tator 2016). Institutional racism can also be found in school systems, where curriculum design focuses disproportionately on ethnocentric perspectives of history, omitting the voices and experiences of racialized people. This leads to students feeling invisible and unheard within the school system, and "home education" is often more valuable than classroom instruction. Disengagement and disenfranchisement can have major consequence for school satisfaction and performance [20].

Individual racism is enacted from one person to another. It can manifest itself as prejudice, which is bias against an individual based on their perceived identity. Discrimination occurs when an individual acts upon their prejudice, resulting in unjust treatment of another individual based on their perceived identity. Racism is also frequently manifested as stereotyping, which is the misattribution of negative characteristics to an individual based on beliefs about their identifiable group [13]. For example, immigrant South Asian women in Australia who are diagnosed with gestational diabetes mellitus report experiences of stereotyping from health care providers. These experiences include assumptions that South Asian women's' health literacy and dietary behaviours are primarily responsible for their diabetes diagnoses and outcomes. During health appointments, such stereotypes cause women to feel ashamed and discouraged [21]. In the context of New Zealand, a comparable example may be discussed. Harris, Cormack, and Stanley (2019) found that racism by health professionals, which often includes race-based stereotyping and assumptions of health behaviours, leads to higher rates of unmet needs in New Zealand's racialized communities [22].
