From health care to housing to education to employment, systemic racism is everywhere. Its effects are far-reaching, creating a vicious cycle that negatively impacts individuals and society.
Here is an overview of the historically pervasive discrimination that impacts the Black community.
Policies and power structures rooted in white privilege maintain institutional, or systemic, racism. Interpersonal racism manifests as prejudice against others based on race. In contrast, institutional racism is ingrained in the structures of society. Institutional racism leads to people of different races having different outcomes when it comes to housing, employment, health, finance, and education.
Here’s an example: If a white recruiter decides not to hire a black job applicant because he thinks black people don’t work as hard as others, that’s interpersonal discrimination.
But when a company has the practice of not considering applicants from certain neighborhood schools, such as underfunded, poor, and predominantly black public schools, that is systemic racism.
“Institutional racism is different from interpersonal racism, as it is more implicit. It has come to the forefront of the national discussion following the killing of George Floyd and the nationwide protests for racial justice. [in 2020]”This is a big step forward for the health care system,” said Dr. Beth Beatrice, a researcher who specializes in health equity. health.
In the United States, systemic racism has manifested itself more subtly in recent years than in the past, said Nance Schick, a New York-based lawyer and mediator. health.
“Discrimination that was once overt is now more hidden and often hidden until someone speaks up,” Schick said.
In the past, legal segregation and Jim Crow laws overtly symbolized systemic racism across the country. Today, by contrast, systemic racism is less often manifested through explicit policies or signs, but bias in favor of whites still exists in symbolic form, Schick said.
“Declaring certain hairstyles ‘unprofessional’ has restricted qualified Black candidates from gainful employment,” Schick added. “Despite the 2020 CROWN Act, [which prohibits discrimination based on hair texture or style], Some employers still have restrictions on hairstyles, especially dreadlocks and natural hair.”
Often, these restrictions have inequitable consequences for Black communities.
Institutional racism is prevalent in nearly every sector of the U.S., said Nora Demleitner, president of St. John’s College Annapolis and a researcher specializing in criminal justice and higher education. health.
education
School funding based on property values and housing taxes, combined with racial segregation in housing, led to the systematic underfunding of predominantly black schools.
In contrast, predominantly white low-poverty districts spend about $2,000 more per student than low-poverty districts where most of the students are people of color. As a result, black students who attend underfunded schools have worse test scores and learning outcomes.
health
According to the American Academy of Family Physicians, the U.S. health care system has historically been discriminatory against non-white populations. Many health care facilities across the country that primarily serve Black communities lack the funding, resources, and staffing to provide adequate care. Poor quality care often leads to poor health outcomes.
In fact, black women in the United States are four times more likely to experience a pregnancy-related death than white women. Studies have found that inadequate access to prenatal care, along with racial bias among health care providers, increases the risk of maternal death.
The COVID-19 pandemic has also highlighted inequities in the U.S. health care system, where lack of access to health services such as COVID-19 testing has led to disproportionate increases in infections and deaths among minority groups.
According to a study published in 2022, Health issuesPoor COVID-19 outcomes for non-white populations are a direct result of racist health care policies in the United States.
housing
Additionally, where people live and the conditions of their neighborhoods play a major role in their health outcomes. When it comes to housing in the United States, systemic racism disproportionately impacts Black communities.
“The historical practice of ‘redlining’ is an example of racist institutional policies that are still felt today,” Beatrice explained. Redlining occurred when banks refused to lend mortgages to communities with high percentages of people of color because they viewed those communities as “unsafe.”
“Though redlining was banned over 50 years ago, we continue to feel its effects in many ways today,” Beatrice continued. “In 2020, Black Americans were over 40% less likely to own a home than white Americans, which has a huge impact on how families accumulate wealth.”
In 2017, the Urban Institute reported that the homeownership rate for white households was 71.9%. In contrast, the homeownership rate for black households was 41.8%.
Racial residential segregation is at the root of the disparities between blacks and whites, said Marcia Parham Green, executive director of the Baltimore County Housing Authority. health.
“The inherent inequalities in low-income housing [Black and White people]” explained Mr. Parham Greene.
“Concentrations of poverty, security, segregation and other social and community characteristics further exacerbate stress and poor health outcomes,” Parham Green continued. “The most vulnerable people – children and seniors – are most adversely affected by unstable housing situations.”
Facing high crime rates, dilapidated housing, and the stress and alienation that comes with poverty, residents of poor areas are at higher risk for poor physical and mental health conditions, including asthma, depression, diabetes and heart disease.
Law and Police
Black people are roughly five times more likely than white people to report being unfairly stopped by police. Black Americans are also more likely to suffer the harmful effects of racial profiling, the stereotyping of people based on the assumed characteristics of their racial or ethnic group, rather than as individuals.
Police violence is an ongoing issue in the United States that disproportionately affects Black communities. As a result of police violence, Black people face increased health risks, including:
- A police officer died of his injuries
- Health Comorbidities That Increase Risk of Death
- stress
- Unfair Arrest and Imprisonment
finance
Economic discrimination goes hand in hand with interpersonal racism: For example, a business loan officer may require a higher credit score and income level from a black applicant than from a white applicant. If such discrimination were widespread in the financial industry, it could be an example of systemic racism.
And a 2018 study by the National Fair Housing Alliance, a Washington-based nonprofit, found financial discrimination in auto loans: Nonwhite applicants who experienced discrimination ended up paying an average of $2,662.56 more over the life of their loan than less-qualified white applicants, the study found.
The researchers also found that in 75% of cases, white applicants were offered more financing options than non-white applicants.
Politics
Some state elected officials have denied early voting or mail-in voting, and in the 2020 US general election, black voters’ ballots were rejected at more than three times the rate of white voters in North Carolina.
And in August 2020, the U.S. Postal Service removed hundreds of sorting machines, which Lauren Razer, an attorney and founder of the Mount Vernon Police Reform Coalition, said is a form of systemic racism. health.
“Mail delivery was delayed and residents in heavily populated black areas were unable to receive their mail,” Lazer said.
Another form of systemic racism in politics is gerrymandering. Gerrymandering determines the drawing of electoral districts and the outcomes of state and federal elections. For example, each congressional district elects one U.S. representative. Census data, collected by the U.S. government every 10 years, influences redistricting.
Racially injustice occurs when those in power redraw district boundaries to suppress minority voices. For example, consider a community that has a majority of black voters. But if lawmakers inappropriately divide that community into multiple districts, black voters are less likely to be accurately represented.
From creating fair hiring and recruitment guidelines to working with minority-owned businesses to changing government funding, it’s important to find ways to rethink policies. Civil rights groups like the NAACP and lawmakers across the country are calling for changes to police policies. The goal is to ensure that these policies don’t target Black people more than White people.
Institutional racism hurts society, stifles innovation, and creates an environment of unhealthy stress and burnout. If systemic racism continues as is, those affected will continue to be caught in a cycle of despair and disenfranchisement.
““Black Americans who speak out against systemic racism are often gaslighted,” said La’Shawn Paul, a mental health expert and diversity and inclusion strategist. health“But to solve any problem, we must first acknowledge its existence. Silence is complacency.”
In the US, Schick said people can fight systemic racism by making the following changes:
- Don’t think that having one black friend means you know enough about the black experience. One person does not represent the entire black population.
- Get out to town halls, school committee meetings, and other places where people are discussing solutions. Protests and books can be effective in raising awareness. But it’s time to seek solutions at all levels.
- If you see something that can be changed, speak up. The change could be a policy change. Or the change could be something small, like an individual action.
“It’s becoming harder for all of us to claim ignorance. It’s time to make a change,” Schick added. “And with sheer will, that could be the start of change. Add courage and action, and great change can happen. But it will take some deep soul searching and accepting that it will be uncomfortable. And yet, we must start here. Again.”
Systemic racism is pervasive and can affect every aspect of people’s lives, from the economy to education to mental and physical health.
While institutional racism is less obvious than in previous generations, it still deeply affects people of color. For example, institutional racism can be as subtle as underspending on public schools in economically disadvantaged areas that serve ethnic minorities.
The best way to combat systemic racism is to recognize the policies and actions that perpetuate it and then actively work to change them.
