In the broader context of racism in the United States, mass racial violence in the United States consists of ethnic conflicts and race riots, along with such events as:Racially based communal conflicts between White Americans and African Americans which took place before the American Civil War, often in relation to attempted slave revolts, and racially based communal conflicts between White Americans and African Americans which took place after the war, in relation to tensions which existed during the Reconstruction and later efforts to suppress Black suffrage and institute Jim Crow laws Conflicts between Protestants and Catholic immigrants from Ireland and Germany in the 19th century White American mobs frequently targeted Chinese and other Asian American immigrants during the 19th and 20th century Attacks on American Indians and American settlers which took place during conflicts over land ownership Frequent fighting among members of various ethnic groups in major cities, specifically in the Northeastern United States and the Midwestern United States throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries, such as the ethnic violence between Puerto Ricans and Italian Americans in New York City Anti-immigrant violence, specifically anti-Catholic violence which targeted Catholics in the 19th century Anti-immigrant violence, specifically Hispanophobic violence which targeted Latin Americans during the 20th century Two concurrent but distinct patterns of disturbances which occurred during the civil rights era: racial disturbances which occurred during demonstrations and protests, such as the disturbance which occurred at the Marquette Park Illinois march of August 1966 and the violence which occurred during the 1969 Greensboro uprising in North Carolina, in conjunction with the ghetto riots (1964–1969), a group of riots which includes the long, hot summer of 1967 and the King assassination riots of 1968, which caused mass violence, looting, and long-lasting damage within African American communities.

Racism has been reflected in discriminatory laws, practices, and actions against "racial" or ethnic groups throughout the history of the United States. Since the early colonial era, White Americans have generally enjoyed legally or socially sanctioned privileges and rights which have been denied to members of various ethnic or minority groups at various times. European Americans have enjoyed advantages in matters of education, immigration, voting rights, citizenship, land acquisition, and criminal procedure.