Racism may be described as a 'polysemous' concept: it has many meanings that serve many purposes. At one extreme, our racism as belonging to the human race unites us and sets us apart from all other animals. At the other extreme, racism arising from distorted views of ethnicity, culture and nationalism is a fundamental property that separates individual humans. In between are the many forms of racism that can cause or be associated with social inequality, hatred, polarisation and gross disparities in wealth and privilege. Racism is not any one thing. Rather it is a social invention made up of a complex mixture of ingredients.