Structural racism
Structural racism refers to a system of policies and practices within institutions that, while appearing race-neutral, result in disproportionately negative impacts on minority groups. This concept expands the traditional understanding of racism beyond individual acts of discrimination or overtly biased institutional policies to encompass the broader societal structures that perpetuate inequalities. For instance, standardized testing for college admissions may be designed without bias, yet it can disadvantage minority applicants who historically score lower. Similarly, layoffs based on seniority can disproportionately affect minority workers, who often have shorter tenure due to historical hiring practices.
The consequences of structural racism are profound, contributing to significant disparities in representation within higher education and the workforce. Additionally, structural racism has been linked to adverse health outcomes for minority populations, exacerbated by phenomena like redlining, which historically restricted their access to housing and health resources. As these structures are often less visible than individual acts of racism, addressing them can be particularly challenging. Overall, structural racism highlights the need for a critical examination of the underlying systems that sustain racial inequalities in society.
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Structural racism
Scholars, along with the general public, historically have viewed racism as consisting of individual behaviors or institutional policies that intentionally discriminate against minority groups. Sociologist Fred Pincus introduced the concept of structural racism in his article “From Individual to Structural Discrimination” (1994), which was designed to broaden the understanding of racism by focusing on effect rather than intent. Structural racism is defined as institutional policies conceived by the dominant group as race-neutral but that have harmful effects on minority groups. Examples might include college entrance requirements organized primarily around standardized test scores, on which minority groups historically have scored lower than the dominant group; or business layoff systems organized around seniority in a society where minority groups historically have been hired last. If these example policies were instituted, minority groups would be considerably underrepresented in colleges and in the labor force. These policies, intended to be nondiscriminatory, would have negative effects on minority groups. Segregation in neighborhoods as a product of structural racism has been studied extensively and shows that these policies and disparities have adverse effects on health outcomes for minority individuals. Redlining in the 1930s, which restricted equitable housing access, resulted in limited access to health-establishing resources for minority individuals over generations. Structural racism is less visible than individual or institutional racism, making it harder to address. The effects, though, perpetuate the subordination of minority groups to the dominant group.
Bibliography
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Lynch, Emily E., et al. "The Legacy of Structural Racism: Associations Between Historic Redlining, Current Mortgage Lending, and Health." SSM-population health, vol. 14, 2021, doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmph.2021.100793. Accessed 20 Nov. 2024.
Marable, Manning. "Structural Racism and American Democracy: Historical and Theoretical Perspectives." Souls: A Critical Journal of Black Politics, Culture and Society 3.1 (2001): 6–24.
Pincus, Fred L. "From Individual to Structural Discrimination." Race and Ethnic Conflict: Contending Views on Prejudice, Discrimination, and Ethnoviolence. Ed. Pincus and Howard J. Ehrlich. Boulder: Westview, 1994. 82–87.
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