On Systemic/Institutional Racism in America
Let's start this discussion with some statistics:
Median Household Income (2018):
White: $65,902
African-American: $41,511
Asian American: $87,243
Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: $61,911
Other: $48,983
Median Household Net Worth (2016):
White: $171,000
African-American: $17,150
Home Ownership (2017):
White: 71.9% (2010: 81.6%)
African-American: 41.8% (2010: 44.5%)
Life Expectancy (at birth 2018 - data from CDC, additional data by state and D.C. available here):
White - 79.12 years
Black - 75.54 years
Infant Mortality (rate per 1,000 live births - 2017):
White - 4.7
Black (non-Hispanic) - 11.0
These data illustrate clearly the considerable disparity in socioeconomic status between Black and White Americans. Each of the divides demonstrated here has grown over the last 10, 20, 30 years. Regarding home ownership, the gap is actually greater than when housing discrimination was still legal! Together, and along with myriad additional disparities in social status and outcomes, these facts distinctly evince the reality of systemic (or institutional or structural) racism in contemporary America.
Systemic Racism is the currently more widespread term for "Institutional Racism", a concept introduced in the 1967 book Black Power: The Politics of Liberation by Stokeley Carmichael (an influential civil rights leader perhaps best known for his association with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and the Black Panther Party) and Charles V. Hamilton (civil rights leader and academic, the W. S. Sayre Professor Emeritus of Government and Political Science at Columbia University). They describe a form of racism propagated through various social institutions (public and private), a "less overt, far more subtle" phenomenon than individual or personal racial bias, but resulting in often profound discrimination manifesting in significant disparities between White and Black Americans in income, wealth, housing, health, employment, and other elements of socioeconomic status. It's a form of racism baked into the laws, regulation, policies, processes, and procedures in the criminal justice system, executive branch agencies, banks & other lenders, healthcare insurers & providers, and an array of other sociopolitical institutions.
This is a form of racism that can (and does) result in discrimination without the institution being staffed by overtly racist individuals; that is the most insidious characteristic of systemic racism - it perpetuates without continual acts of individual bigotry. And it pervades American society. The very nature of systemic racism is that it is built into the structure and operation of sociopolitical institutions. I cannot possibly hope to examine all of the ways in which systemic racism results in disparate access to resources and outcomes, but one particular case can demonstrate its presence and power like no other I can conceive - drugs.
In the 1980s, a new, purer and stronger form of cocaine began spreading throughout the United States. The so-called crack epidemic assumed a central place in American consciousness. The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986, and similar legislation enacted by most states, punished crack use and possession devastatingly, with sentences for possession of crack ranging from 2 to 100 times those for powdered cocaine, including a raft of new mandatory minimum sentences. Critically, crack became inextricably associated with Black Americans, even though crack use was more prevalent among White Americans. The entire law enforcement approach to crack was punitive, and resulted in the incarceration of thousands of Black Americans, mostly young men.
In stark contrast, American policy approach to the opioid epidemic has been compassionate, focusing on rehabilitation and accountability for the manufacturers and marketers of various opioid medications (such as Oxycodone, Oxycontin, and Hydrocodone). The principal difference is that opioid use, in reality and perception, has been far higher among White Americans than any other group. Ironically, opioid use among Black Americans has been relatively low, as healthcare providers have been far more hesitant to prescribe such pain medicine to Black than White Americans (a complex topic in itself). The unmistakable message is that drug use among Black Americans is a criminal problem requiring aggressive law enforcement and punishment, while drug use among White Americans is a social "crisis" requiring a holistic response, founded on understanding, assistance, and rehabilitation.
Many Americans, including in Congress, vehemently deny that systemic racism exists in America in any form; to some degree, I believe this is so because it threatens their fervent belief in American Exceptionalism. It seems that, for these people, admitting any shortcoming in American society undercuts Exceptionalism. That notion is, of course, silly, as America has been, from its founding, a nation of aspiration ("We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union..."). We cannot hope to begin to solve the problem of systemic racism so long as large numbers of Americans, including elected officials, deny its very existence. I cannot count how many times I have heard policy makers declare something like, "I do not believe system racism exists in America." As with climate change, however, this is not something in which one may believe or not - one cannot accept its reality, based on overwhelming evidence, or deny it. Systemic racism in America is not a matter of opinion, but a clear matter of fact (while, it must be noted, the reasons for its existence are not fully understood, and are subject to some amount of debate, which is critical to eliminating it). Let us remain aspirational, striving toward a society in which these pervasive and pernicious disparities in social outcomes based on the socially constructed notion of "race" continually dissipates, and, one day, altogether disappears.
P.S. The effects of systemic racism affect almost all minority groups in America, and I seek neither to deny to diminish that fact. I have focused this essay on its effect on Black Americans, but will explore the effects on other minority groups (such as Native Americans, Latino/as, and other groups) in future posts. Similar phenomena also result in significant disparities between men and women (of all groups) in social outcomes, also fodder for future essays.
Sources and Useful Resources:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institutional_racism
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Societal_racism
Health
Black Americans have been disproportionately hit by COVID-19, partly a function of class (because black Americans are far more likely to be poor than whites), and partly a function of comorbidities such as diabetes, obesity, heart & kidney disease being more widespread among black Americans, partly a function of lower access to healthcare in the black community
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2764789
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/health-equity/race-ethnicity.html
Infant mortality - https://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/omh/browse.aspx?lvl=4&lvlid=23#:~:text=African%20Americans%20have%202.3%20times,to%20non%2DHispanic%20white%20infants.
Medical research - studies, especially pre-WWII, were generally performed on white males, limiting the usefulness of findings to Black Americans and women
Black Americans and the opioid epidemic
Though the crack epidemic was seen as largely a Black phenomenon, usage was actually heavier amongst White Americans.
Books:
Black Power: The Politics of Liberationby Stokeley Carmichael and Charles V. Hamilton
The Color of Law (2017)by Richard Rothstein - https://www.epi.org/publication/the-color-of-law-a-forgotten-history-of-how-our-government-segregated-america/ - this book powerfully and persuasively examines the extent to which racial segregation in America is a direct result of law and government policy, and I enthusiastically recommend it!