Abeng Op Ed: Systematic Racism in America (Part 2)

Continued from Sytematic  Racism in America (Part 1) 
by Le'bert A. Gordon

Institutional Racism

Institutional Racism can be defined as the collective failure of an organization to provide an appropriate and professional service to people because of their color, culture, or ethnic origin. This kind of racism is currently taking place in the form of the senseless killing of unarmed minorities by police officers without there being any criminal consequential results. Police officers are literally getting away with murder. And despite the fact that communities and individuals have risen up to shine the spotlight upon this injustice, (e.g., Black Lives Matter) day after day we hear about another Trayvon Martin, An­twon Rose, Autumn Steele, and Stephon Clark, etc. Unfortunately, this kind of racism has become an intrinsic part of our society today and is occurring more frequently with the targeting and discrimination against a certain group based upon their race. 

People who are affect­ed by Institutional Racism experience it in both the social and poli­tical institutions of society, in such disparities as those regarding Employ­ment, Housing, Health Care, the Criminal Justice System, and Education.

Employment:

Systematically, minorities in this country suffer from a higher rate of unemployment. People of color are more likely to be subjected to some form of discrimination when applying for a job, seeking a well-earned promotion, or with receiving the same salaries as their Caucasian counter-parts. Even when a person of color is more educated and has more experience than their Caucasian co-worker, they often still find themselves being forced to be subservient to them.

Abeng Op Ed: Systematic Racism In America (Part 1)

Systematic Racism In America
written by Le'Bert A. Gordon; edited by @TheAbeng

Introduction

The term Systematic Racism, developed by Sociologist Joe Feagin, is both a theoretical and reality-based concept which has become a po­pular way of explaining the significance of race, both historically and socially, within today's social sciences and humanities. The de­velopment of this theory was influenced by other scholars of race, such as, Frederick Douglas, W.E.B. DuBois, Oliver Cox, Anna Julia Cooper, Kwame Ture, Frantz Fanon, and Patricia Hill Collins, among others. Systematic Racism is rooted in a foundation composed of in­tersecting, overlapping, and co-dependent racist institutions, po­licies, practices, ideas, and behaviors. 

Feagin used historical evidence and demographic statistics to create a theory which asserted that the United States was founded in racism. His theory noted that the Constitution classified black people as the property of whites, and that this legal recognition of slavery is a cornerstone of a racist social system - a system in which resources and rights are given to white people and unjustly denied to people of color. However, while Feagin developed his theory based on the history and reality of anti-black racism in the United States, it is now use­fully being applied to understanding how racism functions generally, both within the United States and around the world.

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