It has been argued that race is an ideological construct. Robert Miles (1982; 1993) argues that its use serves only to legitimise it, giving comfort to those who would wish still to maintain that there are indeed real biological differences between groups of humans.

The race concept that emerged in the race science of the 19th and early 20th centuries linked physical variation with personal, social, and cultural competencies. It was this that enabled science to be enlisted as a justification for differential treatment. Thus race was always more than just a way of thinking about and describing human difference. It was a social relationship characterised by unequal distribution of power and resources. Beliefs about race, and the stereotyped images of others which they entailed, were among the symbolic resources which were mobilised by dominant groups in their efforts to protect their positions of power.

Sociologically, then, race does not refer to categories of human beings (whether biologically or socially constituted). Rather race is a social relationship in which structural positions and social actions are ordered, justified, and explained by reference to systems of symbols and beliefs which emphasise the social and cultural relevance of biologically rooted characteristics. In other words, the social relationship race presumes the existence of racism.

The term 'racism' is almost as contentious as race. It is a concept denoting attitudes, beliefs, and ideologies and social actions and structures.

There has been an increasing tendency in recent years to use the term to refer not merely to the propagation of ideas about biological race but more widely to apply to any expression of inter-group hostility or ethnocentrism.

Some have argued that the old style biological racism has increasingly been replaced by a ‘new racism'. Proponents of the idea that there is a 'new racism' draw attention to the increasing frequency with which political arguments in favour of the exclusion of migrants, or the segregation of members of different population groups, appeal to notions of cultural incompatibility and to the allegedly mutually disruptive and negative consequences of forcing such cultures to mix. These ideas can be found in, for example, arguments about so-called minority (or group) rights in South Africa and more recently the debate about asylum seekers and refugees.

This can be seen in the way peoples experience of health services was different compared to the host communities in the UK. Take a look at this clip of a person who came to the UK from …. And his experience of racism in the NHS

Things did change and here we see an account that reflects the developments made in the NHS in particular.