white supremacy

noun

1

: the belief that the white race is inherently superior to other races and that white people should have control over people of other races

The alt-right is a reactionary conservative movement … . It is characterized by an embrace of fascism, white supremacy, and misogyny …

—Constance Grady

2

: the social, economic, and political systems that collectively enable white people to maintain power over people of other races

… [William] Kelley turned his considerable intellect and imagination to the question of what it is like to be white in this country, and what it is like, for all Americans, to live under the conditions of white supremacy …

—Kathryn Schulz

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

Not just because Selma, like so many Alabama towns built in the tradition of white supremacy, has struggled to find herself. —John Archibald | [e-mail], al, 5 Mar. 2023

Works that confront the resurgence of white supremacy. —Adam Bradley Tajh Rust, New York Times, 3 Mar. 2023

The flyers were homophobic and referenced white supremacy, the statement said. —oregonlive, 27 Feb. 2023

And yet, by far the most conspicuous remaining symbol of white supremacy on Capitol Hill still exists. —Pablo Manríquez, The New Republic, 23 Feb. 2023

The report, provided to The Associated Press ahead of its public release Thursday, also found that all extremist killings identified in 2022 were linked to right-wing extremism, with an especially high number linked to white supremacy. —Lindsay Whitehurst, BostonGlobe.com, 23 Feb. 2023

Though the outbreak of the Civil War put a temporary hold on Mardi Gras, the tradition returned after the conflict’s end, with many krewes adopting imagery of kings and queens as a way of reinforcing white supremacy. —Megan Ulu-lani Boyanton, Smithsonian Magazine, 21 Feb. 2023

The original Willy Wonka manuscript was rife with unapologetic themes of white supremacy, Samboism, and chattel slavery. —Ellen Mcgirt, Fortune, 21 Feb. 2023

The America that tolerated white supremacy in their policies and laws is the same country that wants to remind us how such forms of hate are still legal via free speech. —Ernest Owens, Rolling Stone, 20 Feb. 2023

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Word History

First Known Use

1824, in the meaning defined at sense 1