Three case examples demonstrate the confusion that has resulted from efforts to determine whether an issue is racial or not. The first example, which links the local government experience with criminological concerns, is the case of racial harassment in public housing. This example uses material from a 1986-88 research project for the Department of the Environment. The second example is the issue of apparent ethnic differences in rates of general victimization, based on data from the 1988 British Crime Survey. The third example is the analysis of crime statistics by ethnic origin. These examples demonstrate both that the more other relevant factors are considered, the less significant apparently racial differences become and that actual perceptions and experiences of what is racial do not always fit into standardized categories convenient for policymakers, practitioners, and researchers. The examples suggest the need to expand the concept of what is racial, understand racial disadvantage in its widest sense, recognize different levels and forms of disadvantage experienced by different ethnic groups and subgroups, use a flexible definition of groups vulnerable to racism, and understand indirect discrimination. Reference notes