Ableism is discrimination and social prejudice against people with disabilities and/or people who are perceived to be disabled. Ableism characterizes people who are defined by their disabilities as inferior to the non-disabled.On this basis, people are assigned or denied certain perceived abilities, skills, or character orientations.

In ableist societies, disabled people are considered less valuable, or they are even seen as expendable. The eugenics movement of the early 20th century is considered an expression of widespread ableism.

Ageism is stereotyping and/or discriminationagainst individuals or groups on the basis of their age. This may be casual or systemic. The term was coined in 1969 by Robert Neil Butler to describe discrimination agains seniors, and patterned on sexism and racism. Butler defined "ageism" as a combination of three connected elements. Originally it was identified chiefly towards older people, old age, and the aging process; discriminatory practices against older people; and institutional practices and policies that perpetuate stereotypes about elderly people, but now can include biases against the young.

Ageism has significant effects on the elderly and young people. These effects might be seen within different levels: person, selected company, whole economy. The stereotypes and infantilization of older and younger people by patronizing language affects older and younger people's self-esteem and behaviors. After repeatedly hearing a stereotype that older or younger people are useless, older and younger people may begin to feel like dependent, non-contributing members of society.

Asian-Americans, including those of East Asian, South Asian and Southeast Asian descent, have experienced racism since the first major groups of Chinese immigrants arrived in America. Since the 20th century, Asians, particularly East Asians, have been cast as a model minority, being categorized as more educated and successful, and also stereotyped as being intelligent and hard-working, but also stereotyped as being socially inept. These stereotypes can render invisible the large number of Asians experiencing poverty in the United States.

Other forms of discrimination against Asian Americans include racial profiling and hate crimes. The FBI noted that in 2015, 3.2 percent of all hate crimes involved anti-Asian bias. In 2016, the Seattle Police Department reported that there was a 40 percent increase in race-based crimes against Asian-Americans, both criminal and non-criminal.

There have been widespread incidents of xenophobia, racist bullying and racial violence against Chinese Americans and other Asian Americans in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Anti-Semitism is hostility to, prejudice, or discrimination against Jews .Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antisemitism may be manifested in many ways, ranging from expressions of hatred of or discrimination against individual Jews to organized pogroms by mobs or police forces, or even military attacks on entire Jewish communities. Although the term did not come into common usage until the 19th century, it is also applied to previous and later anti-Jewish incidents.

Though historically most manifestations of antisemitism have taken place in Christian Europe and the U.S., since the early 20th century, especially under the influence of Nazi Germany, anti-semitism has spread to the Middle East, resulting in Arab and Muslim antipathy to Jews and sometimes attacks on Jewish communities leading to the Jewish exodus from Arab and other Muslim countries.

A 2007 survey by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) concluded that 15% of Americans hold antisemitic views, which was in-line with the average of the previous ten years, but a decline from the 29% of the early sixties. The survey concluded that education was a strong predictor, "with most educated Americans being remarkably free of prejudicial views."

In April 2019, the ADL said Anti-Semitic incidents remained at "near-historic" levels in the U.S. in 2018, and assaults had more than doubled that year, though overall incidents were down 5% from 2017. Separately, it cited FBI data showing Jews were the most likely to be targeted by religious-based hate crime for every year since 1991.

Classism is prejudice or discrimination on the basis of social class. Social class refers to the grouping of individuals in a hierarchy based on wealth, income, education, occupation, and social network. It includes individual attitudes, behaviors, systems of policies and practices that are set up to benefit the upper class at the expense of the lower class.

As with social classes, the difference in social status between people determines how they behave toward each other and the prejudices they likely hold toward each other. People of higher status do not generally mix with lower-status people and often are able to control other people's activities by influencing laws and social standards.

Bias is a disproportionate weight in favor of or against an idea or thing, usually in a way that is closed-minded, prejudicial, or unfair. Biases can be innate or learned. People may develop biases for or against an individual, a group, or a belief.

Due to implicit biases, people may often attribute qualities or characteristics to all members of a group, a phenomenon known as stereotyping.

While people might like to believe that they are not susceptible to these biases and stereotypes, the reality is that everyone engages in them. This doesn’t mean that people are prejudiced or inclined to discriminate against others; it means that our brains are working in a way that makes associations and generalizations.

Islamophobia is the fear of, hatred of, or prejudice against the religion of Islam or Muslims in general, especially when seen as a geopolitical force or the source of terrorism. The meaning of the term continues to be debated, and some view it as problematic. Several scholars consider Islamophobia to be a form of xenophobia or racism. There are a number of other possible terms which are also used in order to refer to negative feelings and attitudes towards Islam and Muslims, such as anti-Muslimism, intolerance against Muslims, anti-Muslim prejudice, or anti-Muslim bigotry.

A report by the British Runnymede Foundation contrasted "open" and "closed" views of Islam, and stated that the following "closed" views are equated with Islamophobia:

Islam is seen as separate and "other"; a monolithic bloc, static and unresponsive to change.

It is seen as inferior to the West: barbaric, irrational, primitive, and sexist.

It is seen as violent, aggressive, threatening, supportive of terrorism, and engaged in a clash of civilizations.

Hostility towards Islam is used to justify discriminatory practices towards Muslims and exclusion of Muslims from mainstream society.

Some scholars suggest that Islamophobia is closely related to identity politics, and gives its adherents the perceived benefit of constructing their identity in opposition to a negative image of Muslims.

LGBTQ stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender/transsexual and queer/questioning. In use since the 1990s, the term is an adaptation of the initialism LGB, which began to replace the term gay in reference to the broader LGBT community beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s. The initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexual and gender identity. It may refer to anyone who is non-heterosexual or non-cisgender, instead of exclusively to people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender.

Heterosexism is a system of bias and discrimination in favor of female–male sexuality and relationships. It can include the presumption that female–male attractions and relationships are the only norm and therefore superior.

Heterosexism as discrimination ranks gay men, lesbians, bisexuals and other sexual minorities as second-class citizenswith regard to various legal and civil rights, economic opportunities, and social equality in many of the world's jurisdictions and societies. It is often related to homophobia.

LGBTQ rights in the U.S. have evolved significantly over time. Prior to 1962, all 50 states criminalized same-sex sexual activity, but by 2015, LGBTQ Americans had won the right to marry nationwide. Additionally, in many states and municipalities, LGBTQ Americans are legally protected from discrimination in employment, housing, and access to public accommodations, though LGBTQ Americans still lack comprehensive legal protections from discrimination at the Federal level.

Many LGBTQ Americans still face legal and social challenges not experienced by non-LGBTQ residents, particularly in states with large conservative populations, such as in the Deep South; in rural areas; and in some Native American tribal nations.

Hate crimes based on sexual orientation or gender identity are punishable by federal law under the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009, but many states lack state-level hate crime laws that cover sexual orientation and/or gender identity. LGBTQ people of color face the highest rates of discrimination and hate crimes, especially trans women of color.

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary racism is defined as “a belief that race is a fundamental determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race.” This definition, in its simplest form, means that racism is how we view someone that looks and acts differently than our own selves, and how we determine their worth in society.

Racism in the United States is a deep-rooted understanding that is directed towards the violence, and discrimination directed at minority groups. These minority groups face challenges that are simple for others to obtain and access. Some of these challenges include education, housing, and work that affect how minority groups are able to perform and live comfortably in society. Racism can take many forms in how it is put forth into the world. This can be unintentional and go unnoticed by many and include words, jokes, gestures, music, and overall physical and verbal abuse towards a minority group. The thought that one group is superior based on their skin color is how racism is easily understood by those who may not recognize it as much as they should. Racism is not going to go away on its own. It takes the power of people being more open minded and aware of how we categorize and envision certain groups.

Xenophobia is the fear or hatred of that which is perceived to be foreign or strange. It is an expression of perceived conflict between an in-group and an out-group and may manifest in suspicion by the one of the other's activities, a desire to eliminate their presence, and fear of losing national, ethnic or racial identity.

In the view of a network of scores of US civil rights and human rights organizations, "Discrimination permeates all aspects of life in the United States, and extends to all communities of color." Discrimination against racial, ethnic, and religious minorities is widely acknowledged especially in the case of Indians, Muslims, Sikhs as well as other ethnic group.

Members of every major American ethnic and religious minority have perceived discrimination in their dealings with other minority racial and religious groups.