Here is a comprehensive summary of the article on white supremacy:
White supremacy is the belief that white people are superior to other races, advocating for the maintenance of white power and privilege. Rooted in discredited 18th-century "scientific racism," this ideology historically justified European colonialism and was enforced through devastating socioeconomic and legal structures like the Atlantic slave trade, Jim Crow laws in the United States, and South African apartheid.
Today, white supremacy underpins a spectrum of extremist movements, including white nationalism and neo-Nazism, with groups such as the Ku Klux Klan and Aryan Nations actively promoting its agenda, often amplified by online platforms. These organizations frequently target diverse groups, including people of Sub-Saharan African, Indigenous, and Asian descent, Jews, Muslims, and LGBTQ+ individuals.
Beyond overt hatred, the term "white supremacy" in academic contexts, particularly critical race theory, also describes a social system where white people consistently enjoy structural advantages and privileges over other ethnic groups, even in the absence of formal legal discrimination. This complex ideology has shaped global relations and continues to manifest in various forms of systemic inequality and discrimination.