Subtle racism amongst undergraduate learners after a decade of democracy

The concept of “race” has been the organising feature of South African society for more than three centuries. More recent social changes in the United States of America, Europe, Australia, and South Africa have lead to more subtle expressions of racism. The present study aimed to explore and describe subtle racism amongst undergraduate psychology learners at a tertiary institution in Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality in 2004. The Subtle Racism Scale was used to measure anti-Black sentiment among a sample of 286 undergraduate psychology learners, obtained through non–probability, convenience sampling. Multiple regression analysis revealed the independent variables of race, age, and the race-age interaction were significantly associated with subtle racism of the participants. Research results demonstrated that participants’ level of estimated subtle racism varied according to the age and race of the participants, supporting the notion that racism in South Africa did not influence different age and race groups in a uniform manner