The term and concept of “Everyday Racism” was first conceived by renowned sociologist Dr. Philomena Essed in her doctoral dissertation and was later coined and expanded upon in her 1991 book; Understanding Everyday Racism: An Interdisciplinary Theory.

Everyday racism refers to the “mundane” or seemingly “trivial” elements of everyday life that are typically not recognized because these manifestations of racism have become so normalized that they are generally not identified or considered as acts of racism.

In everyday life, everyday racism refers to a person’s tone, their choices of language, the way they gaze, or the different forms of surveillance (in public spaces such as stores or parks), the small differences in treatment/service (being ignored in a store, denying the reality of a BIPOC person, or the expectation that one can speak for all members of a racialized group) and actions such as moving (or thinking about moving) when an Indigenous, Black or racialized student is seated beside a person on the bus, in the classroom, or at a restaurant.

Everyday racism is multidimensional and the effects of it are cumulative, often leading to reinforced notions of internalized racism.