What is institutional racism, what are the examples plaguing society today, and the effect of segregation?
Institutional racism is a problem that affects both individuals and society. From employment to education, healthcare to housing, institutional racism is just everywhere.
Many black communities have been confined to a certain social class by policies made by those who do not have their interest at heart. We cannot pretend that systemic racism does not exist and not being a societal issue.
It does exist and it was established as an institution to disorganize the Black community.
What Is Institutional Racism?
Institutional racism or systemic racism is the perpetuation of discrimination on the basis of race by economic, political, or legal institutions and systems.
Being biased against other individuals based on their race is nothing compared to systemic racism. While interpersonal racism is shown in our biases against others, institutional racism on the other hand is embedded in the structure of a society.
Systemic racism causes individuals of different races to experience different outcomes on opportunities.
For instance, if a White manager decides not to employ a black person because he thinks black people are not hardworking like other people, that is described as interpersonal racism.
If a company’s policy is not to consider job applicants from a specific school that is inadequately funded and is predominately black, that is what we call institutional racism.
Institutional racism occurs when racial discrimination is introduced into a social group.
Institutional racism also occurs on a more personal level. Take a workplace for example that decides to make rules prohibiting certain African-American hairstyles.
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Institutional Racism Examples
The Black community is not offered a fair share or given the equal opportunity they deserve. Institutional racism is almost everywhere you can imagine.
Education
School funding based on property values and residential taxes has led to underfunding of predominately black schools.
According to an article (To understand structural racism, look at our schools) published in The Seattle Times, black students are likely to get lower scores on standardized math and English test than other groups.
Black students are underrepresented in advanced courses and are far less likely to have a teacher, principal, or counsellor who looks like them compared to white students.
Pre-schoolers who are black are 3.6 times more likely to receive one out-of-school suspension than whites.
Health
The healthcare system is one of the examples of institutional racism in society.
Reports from the American Academy of Family Physicians show that the United States healthcare system discriminates against people of colour.
Healthcare facilities across the United States that serve black communities are underfunded and lack certain resources. They also lack healthcare professionals.
According to statistics, black women in the United States are 4 times more likely to die while giving birth than white women. Due to the lack of access to prenatal healthcare and racial bias, the risk of maternal mortality is on the rise, research suggests.
The COVID-19 Pandemic highlighted inequities in the United States healthcare system as more infections and deaths were recorded among minorities. Minority groups within the United States had little or no access to get tested for the virus.
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Law and Policing
Even before the 21st century, African-Americans have been suffering from police brutality. The Criminal Justice System in the United States has been biased towards black people before now.
In 1944, an African-American kid named George Junius Stinney Jr was executed by the electric chair for the murder of Betty June Binnicker and Mary Emma Thames.
The boy was just 14 years as the time he was executed, making him the youngest American to be executed in the country’s history.
Another 14-year-old African-American kid, Emmett Till was abducted, tortured, and lynched in Mississippi. The 14-year-old was accused of offending a white lady in her family’s grocery store.
The men who abducted, tortured, and killed Emmet Till were never convicted for their crimes.
According to statistics, African-American are five times more likely to be stopped by the police than white people. Black people in the United States are often profiled by the police.
Even off-duty black police officers have been racially profiled in their neighbourhood, irrespective of being a member of law enforcement.
Police brutality is a problem in America and when black athletes speak against it, they are kicked out of the NFL.
Black protesters are often referred to as thugs by the media. But when it involves white people, the media call it a “Mass Demonstration”.
Due to police brutality, African-Americans face the risk of poor health outcomes such as;
- Death from injuries inflicted by local or state police
- Mass incarceration and unfair arrest
- Trauma and stress caused by police brutality
- Health complications that tend to increase the risk of death
Housing
Where a child lives and the condition of that neighbourhood has an influence on their upbringing and will impact their health outcome.
Institutional racism in the United States has an effect on black communities.
The historical practice of ‘redlining’ is a typical example of institutional racism. Redlining became an issue when banks refuse to lend money for mortgages in black neighbourhoods and coloured communities.
Their reason not to lend money for mortgages in those communities is that they are hazardous.
According to reports in 2022, black people were over 40% less likely to own their homes compared to white Americans. Also, reports realised by Urban Institution in 2017 show that the homeownership for white American households was 71%, while that of black households was 41%.
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Politics
Institutional racism even exists in U.S. politics. In 2020 during the general elections in America, black voters’ ballots were rejected more than three times in North Carolina compared to white voters.
Gerrymandering is another type of institutional racism in politics. It determines electoral districts which decide the outcomes of state and federal elections in general.
For example, there is a representative from every district in the United States. Census data, which is usually collected by the U.S. government every decade influences redistricting.
Racial gerrymandering occurs when people in power decide to amend district lines.
Finance
Discriminating against a minority group economically is comparable to interpersonal racism.
For example, a business loan officer may need all African-American applicants to present higher credit scores and income levels than white Americans.
If such discrimination becomes popular in finance, it becomes one of the examples of institutional racism.
According to an investigation carried out by the National Fair Alliance in 2018, there were certain economic discriminations on car loans. The reports suggest that people of colour would have paid an average of $2,266.56 more over the life of the loan than less qualified white American applicants.
The investigation also revealed that white applicants were offered more financing options compared to people of colour.
Conclusion
Institutional racism is plaguing our society today. There is a difference between interpersonal racism and institutional racism. The latter is a problem in many societies not just in the United States.
When will it stop, how will institutions make policies that will benefit minority groups?
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References
- Study.com: What is Institutional Racism?
- Health.com: Examples of Institutional Racism: What It Is and What You Can Do
- Healthaffirs: Systemic And Structural Racism: Definitions, Examples, Health Damages, And Approaches To Dismantling
- The Seattle Times: To understand structural racism, look to our schools
