  Acts of direct discrimination can be unconscious in that the agent is unaware of the discriminatory motive behind them.  It is plausible to think that in many societies, unconscious prejudice is a factor in a significant range of discriminatory behavior, and a viable understanding of the concept of discrimination must be able to accommodate the possibility. In fact, there is growing evidence that unconscious discrimination exists (Jost et al. 2009; Payne and Cameron 2010; and Brownstein and Saul 2016).  And as Wax has noted, even the intention to disadvantage persons on account of their group affiliation can be unconscious (2008: 983).